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BLACK STONE CONTRACT TABLET OF MARUDUK-NADIN-AHI, 
page 96. 




THE 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA, 

BY THE LATE 

GEORGE SMITH, ESQ., 

OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ORIENTAL ANTIQUITIES, BRITISH MUSEUM. 

EDITED BY 

REV. A. H. SAYCE, 

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF COMPARATIVE PHILOLOGY, OXFORD. 



PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF 

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PREFACE, 



MR. GEORGE SMITH left his " History of Babylonia " 
in so nearly complete a state, that an editor had little 
more to do than to see it through the press, correct 
one or two errors, and make a few additions. 

In the performance of this work, which has been 
one of mingled pain and pleasure, I have changed 
the author's words and spelling only where there was 
an obvious oversight, throwing other corrections into 
footnotes. My own responsibility for these, as well as 
for other footnotes containing additions to the text, is 
indicated by a capital S. I have also to take upon 
myself the responsibility of the Appendix upon the 
meaning of the proper names, as well as of the table 
of Babylonian kings and the larger part of the first 
introductory chapter, of which only the first page or 
two were written by Mr. Smith. Brackets mark the 
inserted portion. The Index is due to the kindness 
of Mr. Greenwood Hird. 

Two expressions which will be met with in the 
book need a short explanation. The abbreviation 
W. A. I. denotes the series of volumes containing the 
cruciform " Inscriptions of Western Asia," published 



2032973 



6 PREFACE. 

by the Trustees of the British Museum, and forming 
a collection of texts for the use of Assyrian students. 
The " eponyms " mentioned in the course of the 
work refer to the Assyrian mode of reckoning time. 
Each year was called after a particular officer or 
" eponym," who gave his name to it, like the Epony- 
mous Archons at Athens. A new year was marked 
by a new " eponym," and hence " the eponymy 
of-such-and-such a person" became equivalent to 
"the year so-and-so." Those who wish to investi- 
gate the subject further cannot do better than con- 
sult Mr. George Smith's " Assyrian Canon," one of 
the last productions of a scholar whose loss to 
Assyrian research cannot be over-estimated. 

A. H. SAYCE. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS, 

List of Babylonian Kings, with their approximate dates page 9 
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION page 13 



CHAPTER II. THE MYTHICAL PERIOD. 
Origin and chronology of Babylonian history The ten ante- 
diluvian kings of Berosus The Flood The Garden of Eden 
The Izdhubar or Nimrod legends page 33 



CHAPTER III. CHALDEA, OR SOUTH BABYLONIA. 
Nipur and Ur Urukh and his buildings The religion and 
civilization of Ur Dungi The kings of Karrak The rise of 
Larsa page 63 



CHAPTER IV. UPPER BABYLONIA. 

Cities of Upper Babylonia Agu-kak-rimi Sargon I. Naram- 
Sin Hammurabi Babylon made the capital The successors 
of Hammurabi, and the Kassite dynasty Intercourse with 
Assyria The Assyrian conquest of Babylonia page 75 



CHAPTER V. THE ELAMITES IN BABYLONIA. 

Elam or Susiana Invasions of Babylonia by Kudur-nanhundi 

and Chedorlaomer Kudur-Mabuk -Flood at Babylon Wars 

between Babylon and Assyria Nebuchadnezzar I. and Ma- 

ruduk-nadin-ahi Seven unknown kings page 90 



CHAPTER VI. THE PERIOD OF THE ASSYRIAN WARS. 
Obscure kings Nabu-pal-idina and Assur-nazir-pal Disputed 
succession Conquests of Shalmaneser The Chaldees Ma- 
ruduk-zakir-izkur Semiramis The era of Nabonassar The 
Babylonian campaigns of Tiglath-pileser page 100 



8 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VII. MERODACH-BALADAN AND THE 

DESTRUCTION OF BABYLON. 

Merodach-baladan, the Chaldean, conquers Babylon Defeated 
by Sargon Sargon king of Babylon for five years Hagisa 
Merodach-baladan retakes Babylon Battle of Kisu Belibni 
governor of Babylon Assur-nadin-sum Sennacherib's naval 
expedition to Nagitu Revolt of Suzub Elam devastated by 
the Assyrians Battle of Khalule Destruction of Babylon 
by Sennacherib page 115 



CHAPTER VIII. THE RULE OF THE ASSYRIANS. 
The successors of Assur-nadin-sum Nabu-zir-napisti-esir 
Babylon rebuilt by Esar-haddon Succeeded by his son Saul- 
mugina Wars with Elam Revolt of Babylonia Crushed 
by Assur-bani-pal Saul-Mugina perishes in the flames of his 
palace Nabopolassar appointed governor He marries the 
daughter of Cyaxares of Media The fall of Nineveh page 137 



CHAPTER IX. THE EMPIRE OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 
Rise of the Babylonian Empire Egypt and Media Nebuchad- 
nezzar, his conquests and buildings Destruction of Jerusalem 
Invasion of Egypt Siege of Tyre The kingdom of Lydia 
Babylon adorned Character of Nebuchadnezzar Evil- 
Merodach His murder Nergalsharezer page 152 



CHAPTER X. THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE 

BABYLONIAN EMPIRE. 

Laborosoarchod Nabonidus Babylon fortified Astyages and 
Cyrus Cyrus besieges Babylon Babylon taken by the Per- 
sians The Darius of Daniel Return of the Jews from exile 
Cambyses and Smerdis Darius Hystaspes Revolt and 
capture of Babylon Second revolt of Babylon under Arahu 
Babylon taken Decline of Babylon page 170 



LIST OF BABYLONIAN KINGS, WITH THEIR 
APPROXIMATE DATES, 

(Front Berosus and Abydenus.) 

THE MYTHICAL PERIOD-BEFORE THE DELUGE, 

Alorus of Babylon, "the Shepherd of the People," for 10 sari, or 36,000 years. 

Alaparus, or Alasparus (? of Pantibibla), for 3 sari, or 10,800 years. 

Amelon, or Amillarus of Pantibibla, for 13 sari, or 46,801 years. 

Ammenon of Chaldea (in whose time the Musarus Cannes, or Annedotus, half 
man and half fish, ascended from the Persian Gulf), for 12 sari, or 43,200 
years. 

Amegalahis, or Megalarus, or Metalarus, of Pantibibla, for 18 sari, or 64,800 
years. 

Daonus, or Daos, the shepherd, of Pantibibla (in whose time four double-shaped 
beings, named Euedokus, Eneugannus, Eneubulus, and Anementus, as- 
cended from the sea), for 10 sari, or 36,000 years. 

Euedoreskhus, or Euedorakhus, of Pantibibla (in whose time another Annedotus, 
called Odakon.or Ano-daphos, ascended from the sea), for 18 sari, or 64,800 
years. 

Amempsimus, a Chaldean of Larankha, for 10 sari, or 36,000 years. 

Otiartes (Opartes), or Ardates, a Chaldean of Larankha (called Ubara-Tutu 
" the Glow of Sunset," of Surippak, or Suripkhu in the inscriptions), for 8 sari, 
or 28,800 years. 

Sisithrus, or Xisuthrus, his son, for 18 sari, or 64,800 years. Kronos (Hea) 
ordered him to build an ark, after burying a history of Babylonia in Sip- 
para ; and the Deluge began on the isth of the month Daesius (May and 
June). Sisithrus was translated after the Deluge, but his companions re- 
turned to Chaldea and exhumed the buried records at Sippara. From the 
reign of Alorus to the Deluge were 320 sari, or 432,000 years. 

AFTER THE DELUGE. 

First Dynasty of 86 Kings for 34,080 or 33,091 years, headed by Evekhous, or 
Evexius, or Eutykhius (identified with Nimrod by Syncellus) for 4 neri, 
or 2,400 years, and his son Comosbelus, or Khomasbelus, for 4 neri and 5 
sossi. or 2,700 years. 
Their five next successors were : 

Porus for 35 years. 
Nekhubes for 43 years. 
Nabius for 48 years. 
Oniballus for 40 years. 
Zinzerus for 46 years. 

War of Titan (? Etanna), Bel, Prometheus, and Ogygus, against Kronus 
Building of the Tower of Babel, and dispersion of mankind. 



10 



LIST OF BABYLONIAN KINGS, 



HISTORICAL PERIOD. 



Second dynasty of 8 Median kings, for 
224 years, headed by Zoroaster (?}. 

Third dynasty of n kings. 

Fourth dynasty of 49 Chaldean kings 
for 458 years. 

Fifth dynasty of 9 Arabian kings for 
245 years. 1 

1. Mardokentes, 45 years. 

2. (Wanting.) 

3. Sisimardakos, 28 years. 

4. Nabius, 37 years. 

5. Parannus, 40 years. 

6 .Nabonnabus, 25 years. 
Sixth dynasty consisting of Semiramis. 
Seventh dynasty of 45 Assyrian kings 

for 526 years. 
Phulus and Nabonassar. 

{From the Canon of Ptolemy. ) 

B.C. 

Nabpnasar (Nabu-natsir),i4 years, 747 
Nabius (Nebo-yusapsi), 2 years . 733 
Chinzirus and Porus (Ucin-zir and 

Pul), 5 years . . . .731 
Iluheus, or Yugaeus (Yagina), 5 

years 726 

Mardokempadus (Merodach-Bala- 

dan), 12 years . . . 721 



709 
704 



Arkeanus (Sargon), 5 years . 
Hagisa, or Akises, 30 days . 
Merodach-Baladan (restored) 

months 704 

Belibus (Bel-ibni), 3 years . . 703 
Apronadius (Assur-nadin-sum), 6 

years 700 

Rigebelus, i year .... 694 
Mesesi-mordakus, 4 years . . 693 

[Babylon destroyed B.C. 689]. 
Interregnum, 8 years . . . 689 
Assaradinus (Essar-haddon), 13 

years 681 

Saosduchinus, or Sammughes 

(Saul-mucin, or Saul-mugina), 

20 years ..... 668 
Kiniladanus (Assur-bani-pal), 22 

years 648 

Nabo-polassarus, 21 years . . 626 
Nabokolasar (Nebuchadnezzar), 

43 years . . . . .605 
Ilouarodam (Evil-Merodach), 

years . . . _ _. 
Nerikassolasar, or Neriglissor 

(Nergal-sarra-yutsur), 4 years 560 
Laborosoarchodus, 3 months . 556 
Nabonidus, or Labynetus (Nabu- 

nahid), 17 years . . . 556 
Cyrus takes Babylon . . 539-8 



562 



{Front the Inscriptions.) 
AFTER THE DELUGE. 



Mythical Period. 
Ktanna. 
Ner. 

I } the husbands of Istar. 

Banini, with his wife Milili, and seven 
sons, the eldest of whom was Mi- 
mangab, 'the thunderbolt.' 

Izdhubar, the son of Dannat, 'the 
strong woman." 



Dimir-illat, his son. 

Mul-ega-nunna. 

Ane-kis. 



Historical Period. 
Kings of Ur. 

B.C. 30002000 

Lig-Bagas, king of all Babylonia. 
[Khassimir was one of his viceroys.] 
Dungi, his son. 

Su-Agu. 

Amar-Agu. 

Ibil-Agu. 



This dynasty is probably to be identified with the second Cassite o Kosssean 
dynasty of the inscriptions. In this case the number of kings, as well as the 
duration of their reigns given by the copyists of Berosus, will have to be largely 
increased. 



WITH THEIR APPROXIMATE DATES. 



II 



Viceroys. 

Me-sa-Nana-calama, son of Be . . khuk, 
of Eridhu. 

Idadu, of Eridhu. 

Adi-Anu, of Zerghul. 

Gudea, of Zerghul. 

Enu-Anu, of Zerghul. 

Jlu-mutabil, of Diru (of a later date). 

Elamite Kings in Babylonia. 
Cudur-nankhundi. B.C. 2280 

Chedorlaomer (Gen. xiv.). 
Amar-pel, of Sumir (Shinar). 
Arioch, of Ellasar. 
Turgal, of Gutium. 

Simti-silkhak. 
Cudur-mabug, his son. 

Kings of Larsa. 
Nur-Rimmon. 
Gasin . . . 
Sin-idina. 



Rim-Agu, or Eri-Acu (Arioch), son of 
Cudur-Mabug. 



Kings of Karrak. 

B.C. 2000 1700 
Gamil-Adar (also king of Ur). 

Libit-Nana (also king of Ur). 

Ismi-Dagon (also of Ur). 
Gungunnuv, his son. 

Hi . . zat. 



Kings of Erech. 

Belat-sunat (a queen). 
Sin-gasit. 

(Perhaps they preceded the kings of 
Karrak). 



Kings of Agane. 
Ai . . . 
Amat-nim . . . 
Sargon, for 45 years. 
Naram-Sin, his son. 
Ellat-Gula, a queen. 

(Conquered by Khammuragas. ) 



Kings of Babylon. 
'Sumu . . . 
Zabu (built the temples of Istar and 

the Sun at Sippara). 
Abil-'Sin. 
'Sin- . 



First Cassite Dynasty. 

Ummikh-zirritu. 
Agu-ragas, his son. 
Abi . . his son. 
Tassi-gurumas, his son. 
Agu-kak-rimi, his son. 

Kings of Babylon. 

Second Cassite Dynasty (probably the 
Arabians of Berosus) B.C. 1700 1300. 
Khammuragas, cotemporary with 

Samsu-iluna. 
Ammi-dicaga. 
Curi-galzu I. 
Simmas-sipak I. 
Ulam-buryas. 
Nazi-murudas I. 
Meli-sipak I. 
Burna-buryas I. 
Cara-Cit. 

Saga-raktiyas. 
Murudas-sipak. 



Cara-indas . 
Burna-buryas II. 
Cara-murudas 
Nazi-bugas 
Curi-galzu II. 
Meli-sipak II. 
Merpdach-Baladan I. 
Nazi-murudas II. 



about 1430 

. 1430 

. 1410 

. 1400 

1380 

1350 

1325 
. 1300 



Tiglath-Adar 
Rimmon- . . . bi 
Zamam a-zacir-idin 



Assyrian Dynasty. 

B.C. 1270 



1230 

1200 



12 



LIST OF BABYLONIAN KINGS, ETC. 



Chaldean Kings. 

Nabu-cudura-yutsur (Nebuchad- 
rezzar) .... 
Cara-buryas .... 
Merodach-nadin-akhi . 
Merodach-sapik-zirrat 
. . . Sadua .... 

'Simmas-sipak, the son of Irba-Sin, 

reigned 17 years. 
Hea-mucin-ziri, the son of Cutmar 

(an usurper), for 3 months. 
Cassu-nadin-akhi, son of Sappai, for 6 

years. 



Dynasty from the Persian Gulf. 

Ulbar-surci-idina, son of Bazi, for 15 

years. 
Nebuchadrezzar II., son of Bazi, for 

2 years. 
. . . Sukamuna, son of Bazi, for 3 

months. 
After these an Elamite for 6 years. 

Rimmon-pal-idina. 
Nebo-zacira-iscun. 
Irba-Merodach. 



150 

1 20 

IOO 

097 
080 

Sin, 


Merodach-Baladan II., his son. 
Rimmon-zacira-yutsur. 
Sibir (invaded South Assyria). 

Nebo-baladan .' . ' . B.C. 880 
Merodach-zacira-izcur . . . 853 
Merodach-balasu-ikbu . . . 820 

Nabu-natsir . . 747 



Nabu-yusapsi .... 733 

Ucin-ziru . . . . 731 

Tiglath-Pileser (Porus) of Assyria 729 

Yagina, chief of the Caldai . . 726 

Merodach-B.dadan III., his son . 721 

Sargon of Assyria . . . 709 

Merodach-Baladan restored . 704 

Bel-ibni 703 

Assur-nadin-sumi .... 700 

Suzub . . . . . 693 
Essarhaddon of Assyria . .681 

Saul-mucinu .... 668 

Assur-bani-pal .... 648 

Bel-zacira-iscun . . . . 626 

Nabopalassar .... 626 

Nebuchadrezzar III. . . . 605 

Amil-Merodach .... 562 

Nergal-'sarra-yutsur . . . 560 

Nabu-nahid . . . . 556 

Merodach-'sarra-yutsur . . 541 

i Cyrus 538 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA, 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

BABYLONIA was bounded on the north by Assyria, on 
the east by Elam, or Susiana, on the west by the 
Desert of Arabia, and on the south by Arabia and 
the Persian Gulf. The country is watered by the 
lower courses of the Euphrates and Tigris, and in fact 
it may be considered as entirely the gift of those 
streams. Babylonia is in general a long level tract 
of alluvial soil, which has been deposited through 
several thousand years at the mouths of these 
rivers. Through the accumulation of new ground at 
the points where the Tigris and Euphrates discharge 
themselves into the Persian Gulf, the Babylonian 
territory has steadily increased from age to age. In 
early Chaldean times the sea reached to Abu-Shahrein , 
in the time of Sennacherib it had receded to Bab- 



!4 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

Salimiti; in the days of Nebuchadnezzar the port was 
moved out to Teredon, and since the fall of Babylon 
many miles have been added to the land. 

The inhabitants of Babylonia have always mainly 
consisted of two classes, the agricultural population 
and dwellers in towns on one side, and the wandering, 
pastoral, tent-dwelling tribes on the other. The 
greatest feature of the country was its agriculture, 
which was mainly carried on through artificial irriga- 
tion, the whole country being intersected with canals, 
some of them navigable and of great size, their banks 
in some places being from twenty to thirty feet high. 
The long deserted lines of mounds, which even now 
exist in hundreds, marking the lines of these artificial 
rivers, form far more remarkable objects than the 
ruined cities and palaces. Once these channels 
teemed with life and industry, and were lined with 
cities containing thousands of people ; now they are 
an arid desert waste, supporting only a few wandering 
tribes of Arabs. Babylonia is without doubt the oldest 
civilized country in Asia, and even outside that con- 
tinent only Egypt can rival it in this respect ; but the 
history of Babylonia has an interest beyond that of 
Egypt, on account of its more intimate connection 
with the origin of our own civilization : Babylonia 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 15 

was the centre from which civilization spread into 
Assyria, from thence to Asia Minor and Phoenicia, 
from these to Greece and Rome, and from Rome to 
modern Europe. 

Our astronomical system came originally from the 
plains of Chaldea. The Babylonians divided the face 
of the heavens into constellations of stars, and named 
these after their supposed influence, or from their 
resemblance to various fantastic forms. 

Mathematics, measures of time and capacity, 
weights and scales, laws and government, and every- 
thing known in ancient times, received study and 
attention, while the arts of building, sculpture, paint- 
ing, gem-engraving, metal-work, weaving, and many 
others made proportionate progress. 

In spite of the skill and knowledge of the Baby- 
lonians, and their wonderful progress in arts and 
sciences, they had a religion of the lowest and most 
degrading kind. True insight into natural phenomena 
was prevented, and progress beyond the surface of 
things stopped by a religion which had a multitude 
of gods, who were supposed to bring about in an 
irregular and capricious manner all the changes in 
nature and all the misfortunes which happened to the 
people ; thus foresight and medicine were neglected, 



1 6 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

and unavailing prayers and useless sacrifices offered 
to propitiate the deities who were imagined to hold 
the destiny of the human race in their hands. 

In the hands of some of the nobler poets of the 
Babylonians their mythology received a polish and 
finish, and was woven together into such graceful 
mythical forms, that their works may compare with 
those of Greece and Rome ; but among the bulk of 
the people a low and sensual view was taken of all 
these matters, and their worship was nothing better 
than an adoration of stocks and stones. 

The Babylonians were essentially a peaceful race. 
War was seldom indulged in by them, except it was 
forced upon them, either by their political position 
or through the action of states outside their own 
borders. Only once in their history are they known 
to have made a great empire, and that was in the 
time of Nebuchadnezzar. 

The wonderful system of writing, called, from the 
shape of the characters, cuneiform, or wedge-shaped, 
was invented by the original Turanian inhabitants of 
Babylonia. 

[The characters were originally hieroglyphics, repre- 
senting objects or combinations of objects, or symbol- 
izing ideas. The pronunciation attached to the 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 17 

characters was accordingly the name of the object or 
idea which they signified in the ancient Babylonian 
language. In course of time the characters came to 
be used, not only to represent objects and ideas, but 
also to denote mere sounds. Thus the character 
which signified " a memorial," mu in the ancient 
language, came also to express simply the pronuncia- 
tion of the first personal pronoun mu. When the 
characters were subsequently borrowed by Semitic 
tribes akin to the Hebrews and Arabs, and the 
ancestors of the later Babylonians and Assyrians, the 
sounds attached to the characters, which had been 
significant in the older language, became so many 
mere phonetic values ; mi, for instance, signified 
"black" in the older, so-called Accadian, language, 
but it was simply a meaningless phonetic value in the 
later Assyrian.] 

The chief cities of Babylonia were the following: 

Now represented by 

Ur or Uru, literally " the City " ... Mugheir. 

ErechorUruk Warka. 

Nipur, the city of Bel Niffer. 

Larsa, perhaps the Ellasar of Genesis 

xiv. ... ... ... ... Senkereh. 

c 



1 8 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

Now represented by 

Babylon or Babel, originally called 

Ca-dimirra, " Gate of God " ... Hillah. 

Agand, near Sippara Part of Sura. 

Tiggaba or Kute (Cuthah) Tel Ibrahim. 

KisuorKis Hymar. 

Sippara or Sepharvaim, the city of 

the sun-god Sura. 

Zirgulla Zerghul. 

Dur or Diru, literally " The Fortress " Ddyr. 

Eridhu, in the south-east of Baby- 
lonia Site unknown. 

Duran or Duban Site unknown. 

Karrak or Nisin Site unknown. 

Amarda or Marad Site unknown. 

Abnunna or Mullias or Umliyas ... Site unknown. 

Accadian literature was very extensive, and the 
libraries with which the country was stocked were full 
of treatises on all the branches of knowledge pursued 
by the ancient Chaldeans. One of the most famous 
of these libraries was that at Agane', established by 
Sargon. It contained the great Babylonian work on 
astronomy and astrology in seventy books, which 
was called the " Illumination of Bel," and was after- 
wards translated into Greek by the historian Berosus. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 19 

Part of the catalogue of the library has come down to 
us, having been preserved in a copy made for the 
library of Assur-bani-pal, at Nineveh, and it includes 
treatises on the conjunction of the sun and the moon, 
on the movements of Mars and Venus, and on comets, 
which are termed " stars with a tail behind and a 
corona in front," as well as a direction to the student, 
who is told to write down the number of the tablet 
or book he wants to consult, and the librarian will 
thereupon hand it to him. It must be remembered 
that most of the literature of the Babylonians was 
stamped upon the clay so abundant in the country, 
the clay being afterwards hardened in the fire, a 
comparatively small portion of it being written upon 
papyrus, and hence a clay tablet became synonymous 
with a book. Another famous library was at Senkereh, 
or Larsa, which was rich in mathematical works. 
Some of these, one a table of squares and another 
of cubes, are now in the British Museum. Under 
Nebuchadnezzar Babylon enjoyed two libraries, and 
there seems to have been a very old one at Ur. The 
legends relating to the Deluge were brought to 
Nineveh from the library of Erech, and one of the 
legends of the Creation from the library of Cuthah. 
Attached to the library was an observatory, and the 

C 2 



2O HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

astronomer-royal, as we may term him, had to send fort- 
nightly reports of his observations to the king. Some 
of these we possess, and translations of them will be 
found in the " Records of the Past," Vol. L, 155-159- 
A very curious portion of the Accadian literature is 
a collection of charms and formulae of exorcism, which 
seems to belong to the very earliest period of Baby- 
lonian history. There are magic formulas of all kinds, 
some to ward off sorcery, some to bewitch other 
persons. Closely connected with these are various 
treatises on divination and lists of omens by which it 
was believed the future might be known. Thus there 
are tables of omens from dreams, from births, from 
the inspection of the hand or the entrails of animals, 
and from the objects a traveller meets with on the 
road. The following translation will give some idea 
of these curious tables : 

" (If a blue dog enters a palace, that palace) will be 

burned. 
(If), a yellow dog enters a palace, exit from that 

palacr will be baneful. 
(If) a spotted dog enters a palace, that palace will 

give its peace to the enemy. 
(TO a dog goes to a palace and kills some one, that 

palace is deprived of peace. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 21 

(If) a dog goes to a palace and lies down on a bed, 
that palace none with his hand will take. 

(If) a dog goes to a palace and lies down on the 
throne, that palace will be burned." 

Some of the omens are hardly likely to happen, 
however desirable their consequences may be. Thus 
we are told that "when a sheep bears a lion, the arms 
of the king will be powerful, and the king will have 
no rival." Others of them are obvious enough in 
their connection ; " to dream of bright fire," for 
instance, ''forebodes a fire in the city," and "the 
sight of a decaying house " was a sign of misfortune 
to its occupant. Here is a specimen of the exorcisms 
adopted to drive away evil spirits and the diseases 
they were imagined to occasion : 

"The noxious god, the noxious spirit of the neck, 
the spirit of the desert, the spirit of the mountains, 
the spirit of the sea, the spirit of the morass, the 
noxious cherub of the city, this noxious wind which 
seizes the body (and) the health of the body : O, 
spirit of heaven, remember ! O, spirit of earth, 
remember ! 

" The burning spirit of the neck which seizes the 
man, the burning spirit which seizes the man, the 
spirit which works evil, the creation of the evil spirit : 



22 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

O, spirit of heaven, remember ! O, spirit of earth, 
remember ! 

" Wasting, want of health, the evil spirit of the 
ulcer, spreading quinsey of the gullet, the violent 
ulcer, the noxious ulcer : O, spirit of heaven, remem- 
ber ! O, spirit of earth, remember ! 

" Sickness of the entrails, sickness of the heart, the 
palpitation of a sick heart, sickness of bile, sickness of 
the head, noxious colic, the agitation of terror, flatu- 
lency of the entrails, noxious illness, lingering sickness, 
nightmare : O, spirit of heaven, remember ! O, 
spirit of earth, remember ! " 

The most dreaded of the powers of evil were the 
seven "baleful" spirits or winds, originally the storm- 
clouds, of whom it was said by an ancient poet of 
Eridhu : " Those seven in the mountain of the 
sunset were begotten : those seven in the mountain of 
the sunrise did grow up. In the deep places of the 
earth have they their dwelling : in the high places of 
the earth have they their name." One of the formulas 
of exorcism contains the following hymn in reference 
to them : 

" Seven (are) they, seven (are) they. 

In the abyss of the deep seven (are) they. 

In the brightness of heaven seven (are) they. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 23 

In the abyss of the deep in a palace (was) their 

growth. 

Male they (are) not, female they (are) not. 1 
Moreover the deep (is) their pathway. 
Wife they have not, child is not born to them. 
Law (and) kindness know they not. 
Prayer and supplication hear they not. 
(Among) the thorns of the mountain (was) their 

growth. 

To Hea (the god of the sea) (are) they hostile. 
The throne-bearers 2 of the gods (are) they. 
Disturbing the lilies in the torrent are they set. 
Wicked (are) they, wicked (are) they. 
Seven (are) they, seven (are) they, seven twice 

again (are) they." 

The hymns to the seven wicked spirits introduce us 
to the great collection of hymns to the gods, which 
was compiled B.C. 2000, and formed at once the 
Chaldean Bible and liturgy. M. Lenormant has 
aptly compared it with the Rig- Veda of ancient India. 
Like the latter, it embodied hymns of various dates 
and authorship, and it seems to have been put 

1 The Accadian text, in accordance with the respect paid to 
women in Accad, reverses this order. 

This illustrates the verse in the account of the Deluge 
which describes how, in the course of the storm, " the throne- 
bearers went over mountain and plain." 



24 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

together at the time of a great religious reform, when 
the Shamanistic beliefs of the early Accadians were 
fused into the organized polytheism of their Semitic 
conquerors. As an example of these hymns may be 
quoted one of those which are addressed to Samas, 
the sun-god : 

"O Lord, the illuminator of darkness, thou that 
openest the face (of sorrow), 

Merciful God, the setter up of the fallen, the sup- 
porter of the sick, 

Unto thy light look the great gods, 

The spirits of earth all of them bow before thy face, 

The language of praise like one word thou directest, 

The host of their heads bow before the light of the 
mid-day sun. 

Like a wife thou submittest thyself, joyfully and 
kindly : 

Yea, thou art their light in the vault of the distant 
heaven, 

Of the broad earth their banner art thou. 

Men far and wide bow before thee and rejoice." 

In another hymn, Merodach, a form of the sun-god 
and benefactor of mankind, is thus made to address 
the lightning, which is metaphorically called the 
scimitar, wherewith he smote the dragon Tihamtu in 
the war of the gods : 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 25 

" The sun of fifty faces, the lofty weapon of my 

divinity, I bear. 
The hero that striketh the mountains, the propitious 

sun of the morning that is mine, I bear. 
My mighty weapon, which like the sacrificial flame 

devours in a circle the corpses of the fighters, 

I bear. 
The striker of mountains, my murderous weapon of 

Arm (the god of the sky), I bear. 
The striker of mountains, the fish with seven tails, 

that is mine, I bear. 
The terror of battle, the destroyer of rebel lands, that 

is mine, I bear. 

The defender of conquests, the great sword, the fal- 
chion of my divinity, 1 bear. 
That from whose hand the mountain escapes not, the 

hand of the hero of battle, I bear. 
The delight of heroes, my spear of battle, (I bear). 
My crown which strikes against men, the bow of the 

lightning, (I bear). 
The crusher of the temples by rebel lands, my club 

and buckler of battle, (I bear). 
The lightning of battle, my weapon of fifty heads, 

(I bear). 
The thunderbolt of seven heads, like the huge serpent 

of seven heads, (I bear). 
Like the serpent that beats the sea, (which attacks) 

the foe in the face. 
The devastator of forceful battle, lord over heaven 



2 6 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

and earth, the weapon of (seven) heads, (I 

bear). 
That which maketh the light come forth like day, the 

god of the east, my burning power, (I bear). 
The establisher of heaven and earth, the fire-god, who 

has not his rival, (I bear). 

The weapon which (fills) the world (with) overwhelm- 
ing fear, 
In my right hand mightily made to go ; (the weapon 

that) of gold (and) crystal 
Is wrought for admiration, my God who ministers to 

life, (I bear)." 

Still more remarkable is a penitential psalm, from 
which the following verses may be selected : 

"O my Lord, my transgression (is) great, many (are) 
my sins. 

O my God, my transgression (is) great, my sins (are 
many), 

O my Goddess, my transgression (is) great, my sins 
(are many). 

O my God, that knowest (that) I knew not, my trans- 
gression (is) great, my sins (are many). 

O my Goddess, that knowest (that) I knew not, my 
transgression (is) great, my sins (are many). 

The transgression (that) I committed I knew not. 

The sin (that) I sinned I knew not. 

The forbidden thing did I eat. 

The forbidden thing did I trample upon. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 2^ 

My Lord in the wrath of his heart has punished me. 
God in the strength of his heart has overpowered me. 
The Goddess upon me has laid affliction and in pain 

has set me. 

God, who knew (that) I knew not, hath pierced me. 
The Goddess, who knew (that) I knew not, hath 

caused darkness. 
I lay on the ground and no man seized me by the 

hand. 

I wept, and my palms none took. 
I cried aloud ; there was none that would hear me. 
I am in darkness and trouble ; I lifted not myself up. 
To my God my (distress) I referred ; my prayer I 

addressed. 

The feet of my Goddess I embraced. 
To (my) God, who knew (that) I knew not, (my 

prayer) I addressed. 

****** 

O my God, seven times seven (are) my transgressions, 
my transgressions (are) before me." 

Of a very different character is the following prayer 
after a bad dream (W. A. I., iv., 66-2) : 

" May my God give rest to my prayer. . . . 
May my Lord (grant) a merciful return (from trouble). 
This day directs unto death the terrors (of night). 
O my Goddess, be favourable unto me and hear my 
prayer. 



2 8 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

May she deliver (me) from my sin ; may my offering 

be accepted. 
May the Deity deliver, may she be gracious to (my) 

gift. 

My transgression may the seven winds carry away. 
May the worm destroy (it), may the bird bear (it) 

aloft to heaven. 

May the shoal of fish carry (it) away into the river. 
May their tail and back receive (it) for me : may the 

waters of the river as they flow dissolve (it) 

for me. 

Enlighten me also like an image of gold, 
Like rich fat make me fat before thee. 
Seize the worm, bury it alive : bury (it beneath) thy 

altar, thy multitudes seize. 
With the worm cause (me) to pass and let me find 

protection with thee. 

Dismiss me, and let a favourable dream come. 
May the dream I dream be favourable ; may the 

dream I dream be true. 
The dream I dream to prosperity turn. 
May Makhir, the god of dreams, rest upon my head. 
Make me great, and to Bit-Saggal, the temple of the 

gods, the temple of Adar, 
Unto Merodach, the merciful, for prosperity, to his 

prospering hands deliver me. 
May thy descent be made known, may thy divinity 

be glorious, 
May the men of my city celebrate thy mighty deeds." 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 2 9 

All these hymns are translated from Accadian into 
Assyrian, the original Accadian text being placed in a 
parallel column on the left-hand side of the Assyrian 
translation. 

The mythological poems given in Mr. Smith's 
" Chaldean Account of Genesis " are another proof 
of the extent to which poetry was cultivated in ancient 
Babylonia. Some of these are noticed subsequently, 
more especially the account of the Deluge and the 
great Izdhubar epic of which it forms an episode. 
This epic is a redaction of a number of independent 
poems of earlier date, the thread which runs through 
the whole and connects it together being the adven- 
tures of Izdhubar. The epic was probably put 
together in its present form about 2000 years B.C. ; 
it is compiled on an astronomical principle, being 
divided into twelve books, each answering to a sign 
of the Zodiac and the Accadian month which was 
named after it. Thus the account of the Deluge is 
introduced into the eleventh book or lay, which cor- 
responds with the sign Aquarius and the " rainy 
month " of the Accadian calendar. 

The people of Accad were not neglectful of law. 
Probably the oldest table of laws in existence is the 
one which was copied and translated for the library 



jO HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

of Nineveh, and in which we find that the life and 
status of the slave are recognized and provided for, 
and the mother is regarded as of more importance 
than the father, as is still the case with many Altaic 
tribes. The first two columns of the table are un- 
fortunately too much broken to be read ; the last two 
run as follows, beginning, it will be observed, with a 
list of legal precedents : 

" A certain man's brother-in-law hired (workmen) and 
built an enclosure on his foundation. From 
the house (the judge) expelled him. 

In every case let a married man put his child in pos- 
session of property, provided that he does not 
make him inhabit it. 

For the future (the judge may) allow a sanctuary to 
be erected in a private demesne. 

(A man) has full possession of a sanctuary on his own 
high place. 

The sanctuary (a man) has raised is confirmed to the 
son who inherits. 

Effaced. 

(A man) shall not (deny) his father and his mother. 
(If a man) has named a town, but not laid the 
foundation-stone, he may change (the name). 
This imperial rescript must be learnt. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 31 

Everything which a married woman encloses, she 

(shall) possess. 

In all cases for the future (these rules shall hold good). 

A decision. A son says to his father : Thou art not 

my father, (and) confirms it by (his) nail-mark 

(on the deed) ; (the son) gives him a pledge 

and pays him silver. 

A decision. A son says to his mother : Thou art not 
my mother ; his hair is cut off, (in) the city 
they exclude him from earth and water, and in 
the house imprison him. 

A decision. A father says to his son : Thou art not 
my son ; in house and brick building they 
imprison him. 

A decision. A mother says to her son : Thou art not 
my son ; in house and property they imprison 
her. 

A decision. A woman is unfaithful to her husband, 
and says to him : Thou art not my husband ; 
into the river they throw her. 

A decision. A husband says to his wife : Thou art 
not my wife : half a maneh of silver he weighs 
out (in compensation). 

A decision. A master kills (his) slaves, cuts them to 
pieces, injures their offspring, drives them from 
the land and makes them sick ; his hand every 
day shall measure out a half-measure of corn 
(in requital)." 



32 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

It is hardly necessary to describe Babylonian litera- 
ture in further detail. It comprised beast-fables, 
riddles of a somewhat elementary kind, contract- 
tablets, deeds of sale, geographical lists, chronological 
tables, historical documents, copies of correspondence, 
and catalogues of the various animals, trees, stones, 
and other objects known to the Babylonians. Mathe- 
matics were not disregarded, and the figures of geo- 
metry were even made to serve the purposes of a 
superstitious divination. The insight thus afforded 
us into the literary activity and interests of a people 
whose very existence was almost forgotten but a few 
years ago, is one of the most remarkable revelations 
of the present century. 




CYLINDRICAL SEALS. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 33 



CHAPTER II. 

THE MYTHICAL PERIOD. 

Origin and chronology of Babylonian history The ten ante- 
diluvian kings of Berosus The Flood The Garden of Edeii 
The Izdhubar or Nimrod legends. 

Ix the antiquity of its civilization and history 
Babylonia has no rival in Asia, and the only country 
in the world which can compare with it, in these 
respects, is Egypt. 

The history of Babylonia has an interest of a wider 
kind than that of Egypt, from its more intimate con- 
nection with the general history of the human race. 
and from the remarkable influence which its religion, 
its science, and its civilization have had on all subse- 
quent human progress. 

Its religious traditions, carried away by the Israel- 
ites who came out from Ur of the Chaldees, 1 have 

1 Gen. xi. 31. 
r> 



34 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

through this wonderful people, become the heritage 
of all mankind, while its science and civilization, 
through the medium of the Greeks and Romans, have 
become the bases of modern research and advance- 
ment. 

The extent of country comprehended under the 
name of Babylonia varied at different times, and it is 
impossible to fix the exact boundaries of the country 
at any period during the empire, for alternate conquest 
and defeat caused the boundaries to fluctuate con- 
tinually. Generally speaking, it comprehended the 
country from near the Lower Zab to the Persian Gulf, 
about 400 miles long, and from Elam, east of the 
Tigris, to the Arabian Desert, west of the Euphrates, 
an average breadth of 150 miles. 

Within this space, in early times, there were several 
kingdoms ; and often, at a later period, local chiefs 
made themselves independent ; for, the country, being 
peopled by several distinct tribes, there was a want of 
nationality and patriotism. 

It is generally supposed that Babylonia was peopled 
in early times by Turanian tribes (tribes allied to the 
Turks and Tatars), and that these were conquered 
and dispossessed by the Semites. This change is very 
doubtful, although supported by much learned argu- 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 35 

ment, grounded on the nature of the Babylonian 
language and writing. 1 

The history of Babylonia, from its own records, was 
translated into Greek by a Chaldean priest, named 
Berosus, who lived in the third century before the 
Christian era. The history of Berosus is lost, except- 
ing an imperfect outline of his chronology and an 
account of the antediluvians, the Flood, and the time 
of Nebuchadnezzar and his successors. 

The fragments of Berosus are so few, and it is so 
difficult to arrange his epochs, that they afford little 
aid in composing the history of the country. 

On the other hand, the Babylonian and Assyrian 

1 I have left the contradiction between this passage and that 
on p. 1 6, because it expresses Mr. Smith's hesitation on the 
matter. Whether or not the early inhabitants and civilizers of 
Chaldea were allied to the Turks and Tatars of the present day 
a point which is extremely doubtful at all events they spoke 
an agglutinative language ; that is, a language in which the 
relations of grammar are denoted, not by inflections, but by the 
attachment of independent or semi-independent words. The 
Accadian language, as it is usually termed, was closely allied to 
the dialects spoken in Elam, as well as to that of the Protomedic 
subjects of the Persian kings. M. Lenormant has argued ably 
in behalf of the view that this whole group of languages, though 
standing by itself, yet ultimately goes back to the same source 
as the Finnic family of tongues. S. 
D 2 



36 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

inscriptions which supply most of our historical infor- 
mation, give very little insight into the chronology ; 
so, even with the aids from ancient authors, the earlier 
part of the history is merely fragmentary. The 
Babylonian histories commenced with a description 
of the creation, similar in some respects to the one in 
Genesis, and then went on to relate that the Baby- 
lonians were first ruled by a king named Alorus, in 
whose time there came up out of the Persian Gulf a 
being named Cannes, who was half man, half fish, 
something like the Dagon of the Philistines. Cannes 
is said to have taught the Babylonians all their learn- 
ing, and to have imparted to them the arts of civilized 
life. 

According to the Babylonians, there were ten kings, 
beginning with Alorus, before the Flood ; these ten 
agreeing in number with the ten patriarchs in Genesis ; 
but an extravagant length was given by the Babylo- 
nians to this period, their statement being that the ten 
kings reigned for 432,000 years. 

Beside the creature Cannes, they related that 
several similar beings came out of the Persian Gulf; 
and they otherwise adorned their narrative with 
marvels and legends to make up for the total want of 
real histon*. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 37 

The ninth of the kings before the Flood, according 
to the Babylonians, was named Ubara-tutu, and he 
corresponds in position to the Lamech of the Bible, 
who was father of Noah. 

Ubara-tutu was succeeded by his son Adrahasis, or 
Hasisadra, who corresponds to the Noah of the 
Bible. In his time it is recorded that the whole of 
mankind had become wicked, and the Babylonian 
deities resolved to destroy the earth by a deluge. 
Hasisadra being a pious man, was commanded to 
build an ark, wherein himself, his family, and friends, 
and pairs of all animals should be preserved during 
the Flood. The Chaldean monarch accordingly built 
this vessel, and in it was saved. 

The Chaldean story of the Deluge is so remarkable 
that I repeat it here as it is given on the tablets, 
namely as a speech put into the mouth of Hasisadra, 
or Noah. I append a series of notes of the parallel 
passages in Genesis for comparison. 



38 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 



Extract from the Eleventh Tablet of the Izdhubar 
Legends, giving the Chaldean account of the Deluge. 

COLUMN I. 

Line 

8. Xisithrus * to him also said even to Izdhubar : 

9. "Be revealed to thee Izdhubar the concealed 

story, 

10. and the oracle of the gods to thee be related even 

to thee. 

11. The city Surippak the city which thou estab- 

lishedest . . . situated, 

1 2. that city is ancient and the gods (dwell) within it 
13 their servant the great gods 

14 the god Anu 

15 the god Elu 

1 6 the god Ninip 

17. and the god .... the lord of Hades, 

1 8. their will he repeated to the midst (of it), and 

19. I his will was hearing and he spake to me : 

1 Xisithrus, or rather Xisuthrus, is the name given to the 
Babylonian Noah by Berosus. It is questionable whether Mr. 
Smith was right in regarding the words adra khasis, which occur 
in the Flood tablets, as the name of the hero of them. The name 
of the latter is usually written with two ideographs, read Tam-zi 
in Accadian, the first of which signifies " the sun," and the second 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 39 

Line 

20. Surippakite, son of Ubara-tutu, 

21. . . . make a ship after this (manner) 

22. ... I remember the sinner 1 and life . . . 

23. cause to ascend the seed of life all of it, to the 

midst of the ship. 

24. The ship which thou shalt make 

25. 600 (?) cubits shall be the measure of its length, 

(and) 

26. 60 ? cubits the amount of its breadth and its 

height. 

27. . . . into the deep launch it. 

28. I perceived and said to Hea my lord : 

29. the ship making which thou commandest thus, 

30. when (?) by me it shall be done, 

31. [I shall be derided by] young men and old men. 

32. Hea opened his mouth and spake and said to me 

his servant, 

33 thou shalt say unto them, 

34 he has turned from me and 

35 fixed over me 

36 like caves .... 

37 above and below . . . 

38 close the ship .... 

39 the flood which I will send to you, 

40. into it enter and the door of the ship turn. 

41. Into the midst of it, thy grain, thy furniture, and 

thy goods, 

1 Or "seed." 



40 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

Line 

42. thy wealth, thy women servants, thy female slaves. 

and the young men, 

43. the beasts of the field, the animals of the. field. 

all I will gather and 

44. I will send to thee, and they shall be enclosed in 

thy door. 

45. Xisithrus his mouth opened and spake and 

46. said to Hea his lord ; 

47. whosoever the ship will not make .... 

48. in the earth enclosed .... 

49. ... may I see also the ship . . . 

50. ... on the ground the ship . . . 

51. the ship making which thou commandest (thus) 

52. which in .... 



COLUMN II. 

1. strong .... 

2. on the fifth day .... it 

3. in its circuit 14 measures (in) its frame 

4. 14 measures it measures . . . over it 

5. I placed its roof, it ... I enclosed it. 

6. I rode in it for the sixth time, I (examined its ex- 

terior) for the seventh time, 

7. its interior I examined for the eighth time ; 

8. with planks the water from within it I stopped, 

9. I saw rents and the wanting parts I added, 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 41 

Line 

10. three measures of bitumen I poured over the 

outside, 

11. three measures of bitumen I poured over the 

inside, 

12. three . . . men carrying its baskets? they con- 

structed boxes, 

13. I gave? the boxes for which they had sacrificed 

an offering 

14. two measures of boxes I had distributed to the 

boatmen, 1 

15. to . . . . were sacrificed oxen 
1 6 for every day 

17. in .... wine in receptacles and wine 

18. (I collected) like the waters of a river and 

19. (food) like the dust? of the earth also 

20. (I collected in) boxes, with my hand I placed. 

21. ... Shamas . . . material of the ship completed, 
22 strong and 

23. the reed oars ? of the ship I caused to bring above 

and below. 
24 they went in two-thirds of it. 

25. All I possessed the strength of it, all I possessed 

the strength of it in silver, 

26. all I possessed the strength of it in gold, 

27. all I possessed the strength of it, even the seed 

of life, the whole 

1 The translation of these lines is very doubtful. S. 



42 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

Line 

28. I caused to go up into the ship, all my male ser- 

vants and my female servants, 

29. the beast of the field, the animal of the field, the 

sons of the people, all of them I caused to 
go up. 

30. A flood Shamas made and 

31. he spake saying (?) : in the night I will cause it to 

rain from heaven heavily, 

32. enter into the midst of the ship and shut thy door. 

33. That flood happened (of which) 

34. he spake saying : in the night I will cause it to 

rain from heaven heavily. 

35. In the day I celebrated his festival, 

36. during the day watch fear I had to watch. 

37. I entered into the midst of the ship and shut my 

door. 

38. To close the ship to Buzur-sadi-rabi the boat- 

man 

39. the palace (the ark) I gave with its goods. 

40. A storm at dawn in the morning 

41. arose, from the horizon of heaven extending and 

wide. 1 

42. Vul 2 in the midst of it thundered, and 

43. Nebo and Saru went in front, 

1 Rather " rain and darkness." S. 

2 Read Rimmon (Assyrian Ramman). Rimmon should be 
substituted for Vul wherever it occurs. S. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 43 

Line 

44. the throne-bearers l went over mountains and 

plains, 

45. the destroyer Nergal overturned, 

46. Ninip went in front (and) cast down, 

47. the spirits of earth carried destruction, 

48. in their glory they swept the earth ; 

49. the flood of Vul reached to heaven. 

50. The bright earth to a waste was turned. 



COLUMN III. 

1. The surface of the earth like .... it swept, 

2. (it destroyed) all life (from) the face of the 

earth . . . 

3. the strong (deluge) over the people, reached to 

(heaven). 

4. Brother saw not his brother, it did not spare the 

people. In heaven 

5. the gods feared the flood, and 

6. sought refuge ; they ascended to the heaven of 

Arm. 2 

7. The gods like dogs fixed in droves were prostrate. 

8. Spake Ishtar like a child, 3 

1 That is, the seven wicked spirits or storm-gods. 
' That is, the highest heaven. 
3 Rather "mother." 



44 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

Line 
9. uttered Rubat l her speech : 

10. All to corruption are turned, and 

1 1. when I in the presence of the gods had prophesied 

evil, 

1 2. thus I prophesied in the presence of the gods evil : 

13. to evil are devoted (all) my people, and I pro- 

phesied : 

14. I the mother have begotten my people, and 

1 5. like the young of the fishes they fill the sea. 

1 6. The gods concerning the spirits of earth were 

weeping with her, 

17. the gods in seats were seated in lamentation, 

1 8. covered were their lips for the coming flood. 

19. Six days and nights 

20. passed ; the wind, deluge, and storm overwhelmed. 

21. On the seventh day in its course (the rain from) 

heaven (and) all the deluge 

22. which had destroyed like an earthquake, 

23. quieted. The sea one caused to dry, and the wind 

and deluge ended. 

24. I perceived the sea making a tossing; 2 

25. and the whole of mankind was turned to cor- 

ruption, 

26. like reeds the corpses floated. 

27. I opened the window, and the light broke over 

my face, 

1 That is, "Great Lady," Istar. 

2 Rather " noise." S. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 45 

Line 

28. it passed, and I sat down and wept ; 

29. over my face flowed my tears. 

30. I perceived the shore and the boundary of the sea, 

31. for twelve measures the land rose. 

32. To the country of Nizir went the ship ; 

33. the mountain of Nizir stopped the ship, and to 

pass over it, it was not able. 

34. The first day and the second day the mountain 

of Nizir stopped it. 

35. The third day and the fourth day the mountain 

of Nizir stopped it. 

36. The fifth and sixth, the mountain of Nizir stopped 

it. 

37. On the seventh day in the course of it 

38. I sent forth a dove, and it left. The dove went 

and turned and 

39. a resting-place it could not enter, and it returned. 

40. I sent forth a swallow and it left. The swallow 

went and turned and 

41. a resting-place it could not enter, and it returned. 

42. I sent forth a raven and it left 

43. The raven went and the corpses which were on 

the water it saw and 

44. it did eat, it swam, it wandered away, it did not 

return. 

45. I sent forth (the animals) to the four winds, I 

poured out a libation, : 

46. I built an altar on the peak of the mountain, 



46 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

Line 

47. by sevens jugs of wine I took, 

48. at the bottom of them I placed reeds, pines, and 

spices. 

49. The gods collected at its burning, the gods col- 

lected at its good burning ; 

50. the gods like flies over the sacrifice gathered. 

51. From of old also Rubat in her course 

52. carried the great brightness? which Anu had 

created. When the glory .... 

53. those gods, the charm of crystal round my neck 

may I not leave ; 

COLUMN IV. 

1. in those days I desire'd that for ever may I not 

leave them. 

2. May the gods come to my altar, 

3. May Elu not come to my altar, 

4. for he did not consider and had made a deluge, 

5. and my people he had consigned to the deep. A 

6. From what time also Elu in his course 

7. saw, the ship Elu took; with anger he filled the 

gods even spirits of earth : 

8. Let not life ever come out, let not a man be 

saved from the deep. 2 

9. Ninip his mouth opened, and spake ; he said to 

the warrior Elu : 

1 Rather " a vessel." S. 2 Rather " in the vessel." S. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 47 

Line 

i o. Who then will ask Hea the matter he has done, 

n. and Hea knowing also all things .... 

12. Hea his mouth opened and spake, he said to 

the warrior Elu : 

13. Thou just prince of the gods, warrior .... 

1 4. When thou angry becomest, a deluge thou makest 

15. the doer of sin punish his sin, the doer of evil 

punish his evil, 

1 6. the just prince let him not be cut off, the faithful 

let him not be (destroyed) ; 

17. instead of thee making a deluge, may lions in- 

crease l and men be reduced ; 

1 8. instead of thee making a deluge, may leopards ~ 

increase and men be reduced ; 

19. instead of thee making a deluge, may a famine 

happen and the country be destroyed ; 

20. instead of thee making a deluge, may pestilence 

increase and the country be destroyed ! 

21. I did not peer into the oracle of the great gods. 

22. Adrahasis a dream they sent, 3 and the oracle of 

the gods he heard. 

23. When his judgment was accomplished, Elu went 

up to the midst of the ship. 

24. He took my hand and raised me up, 

1 Rather "come." S. 2 Rather "hyaenas." S. 

3 Rather "caused to reveal to him." See the note on the 
name Xisithrus, p. 38. S. 



48 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

Line 

25. he caused to raise and to bring my wife to my 

side.; . , 

26. he made a bond, and established in a covenant 

he blesses us 

27. in the presence of Hasisadra and the people, 

thus: 

28. When Hasisadra, and his wife, and the people to 

be like the gods are carried away ; 

29. then shall dwell Hasisadra in a remote place at 

the mouth of the rivers. 

30. They took me and in a remote place at the mouth 

of the rivers they seated me. 

This extract from one of the cuneiform tablets will 
serve to show the light which these documents throw 
on the Bible. The Chaldean legend of the Flood was 
in existence at least 2,000 years before the Christian 
era, and the scenes of the series of legends to which 
it belongs are carved on some of the most ancient 
Babylonian seals. 

The Bible says nothing about the native country 
of Noah. The Chaldean legend, line 2, relates that 
he belonged to Surippak, a port near the entrance of 
the Euphrates into the Persian Gulf. The Chaldean 
legend agrees with Genesis vi. in ascribing the Deluge 
to the anger of the Deity at the wickedness of the 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 49 

world ; and the name Hasisadra, given to Noah in the 
Chaldean story, expresses the character of the patri- 
arch "reverent and attentive." 1 

The command to build the ark, in lines 21 to 44, 
may be compared with Genesis vi. 14-21. Unfor- 
tunately the size of the ark according to the Chaldean 
story is lost, so that we cannot compare the numbers 
with the statement of Genesis. The order to take 
the animals into the ark in line 43 parallels Genesis 
vi. 19, 20, and vii. 2, 3. The pouring bitumen over 
the inside and outside of the vessel (col. ii. lines 10, 
n), is the same as Gen. vi. 14. The utter destruc- 
tion of the world is given in col. ii. line 42 to col. iii. 
line 26, and Gen. vii. 17-23. With respect to the 
duration of the Deluge, there is a remarkable dif- 
ference between the Bible and the Chaldean story. 
Here we may compare col. iii. lines 21, 34-38, and 
Gen. vii. ii, 17, 24, and viii. 3-6, 10, 12-14. The 
sending out of the raven is in col. iii. lines 42-44, 
and Gen. viii. 7 ; the dove in lines 38, 39, and Gen. 
viii. 8-12; but there is added in the Chaldean ac- 
count the sending out of a swallow (lines 40, 41). In 
the Bible (Gen. viii. 4), the ark is said to have rested 

1 Rather " Then intelligently. "- S. 
E 



50 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

on the mountains of Ararat. This, however, I be- 
lieve does not mean the mountain now called Ararat, 
but a mountainous country south of this, and near 
the present Lake Van. From this region several 
mountain-chains run down towards the Persian Gulf, 
on the east of the Tigris. In this region, to the east 
of Assyria, was the land of Nizir, where the ark rested, 
according to the Chaldean account (col. iii. lines 
32-36). There must be, however, at present, con- 
siderable difference of opinion as to the exact locality 
of the descent from the ark, as the limits of these 
geographical names are not defined. 

The sacrifice of Noah (Gen. viii. 20), and the plea- 
sure and blessing of God, reappear in col. iii. lines 
46-50 ; and the resolution of the Lord not to destroy 
the world again by a flood compares with the state- 
ment in the inscription (col. iv. lines 17-20). The 
covenant and blessing of Noah (Gen. ix. 1-17) is 
given in col. iv. lines 26-29 '> but this includes a sin- 
gular difference from the Biblical text. In the book 
of Genesis (v. 24) it is related that Enoch was trans- 
lated. This remarkable passage is illustrated by col. 
iv. lines 28-30, and other places ; but the Chaldean 
legend makes it Hasisadra or Noah who is translated 
for his piety, and not Enoch. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 51 

The whole of the Chaldean account of the Deluge 
is worthy of minute comparison with that in the book 
of Genesis, and will be found interesting, both in the 
points where it agrees with and those where it differs 
from the Biblical record. Until a few years back 
there was no confirmation of the book of Genesis 
earlier than the time of Alexander the Great ; now, 
however, a flood of light is thrown on it by the 
cuneiform inscriptions, and it is highly probable that 
much more of the earlier part of Genesis will be 
found in these Chaldean texts. Fragments have been 
found of the account of the creation and building of 
the tower of Babel, and I have reason to believe that 
these are only parts of a series of histories giving full 
accounts of these early periods. 1 

1 A full account of these tablets is given in Mr. Smith's 
' ' Chaldean Account of Genesis. " Two versions of the history 
of the creation have been discovered, one an older one, which 
seems to agree with that adopted by Berosus, and another which 
must belong to a much later period, probably the seventh cen- 
tury B.C. According to the first version, the'earth was originally 
a desert, and was then inhabited by nondescript creatures 
men with the bodies of birds and the faces^ of ravens until it 
was fitted for the abode of the present races of riving beings. 
The second version of the account of the creation agrees very 
closely with that recorded in the first chapter of Genesis. The 
E 2 



52 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

The history of no other country is so likely to throw- 
light on the earlier parts of the Bible as Babylonia, 
for here it is stated that the garden of Eden was 
situated, the first home of the human race (Gen. ii. 
8, 17). Four rivers are given in this passage; two, 
the Euphrates and Tigris, are well known ; the other 
two are considered, with great probability, to be two 
other streams of the same river system in Babylonia. 
Sir Henry Rawlinson has identified Eden with the 
region of Gan-duni, or Kar-dunias, in Babylonia, an 

world is stated to have been made in six successive days, the 
sun, moon, and stars being formed on the fourth day, and the 
animals probably on the sixth. The account begins in this 
way : 

"At that time the heaven above (was) unnamed, 

In the earth beneath a name (was) unrecorded : 

Chaos, too (was), unopened around them. 

By name the mother Tihamtu (the Deep) (was) the begetter of 

them all. 
Their waters in one place were not embosomed, and the fruitful 

herb (was) uncollected, the marsh plant (was) ungrown. 
At that time the gods (the stars) were not made to go ; none of 

them by name (were) recorded ; order (was) not among 

them. 
Then were made the (great) gods; (and these) Lakhmu and 

Lalchamu caused to go ; until they were grown '(they 

nurtured them). 
The gods Assur and Kissar were made (by their hands). 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 53 

identification which, although not proved, has many 
probabilities in its favour. In the inscriptions of 
Tiglath-Pileser II. it is stated that the land of Gan- 
dunias was watered by four rivers the Euphrates, the 
Tigris, the Ukni, and the Surappi. 

A length of days, a long (time passed, and) the gods Anu (Bel, 
and Hea were created), the gods Assur and Kissar (begat 
them)." 

Connected with these creation tablets are others which describe 
the fall of man brought about by the tempter, the great dragon 
Tiamat (Tihamtu), or the "Deep," as well as another series, 
which recounts the war of Merodach, the sun-god, with Tiamatu 
and her allies. This war reminds us of the Biblical passage 
(Rev. xii. 7) in which it is said that " there was war in heaven : 
Michael and his angels fought against the dragon ; and the 
dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not." The frag- 
ments relating to the Tower of Babel are unfortunately very 
scanty. They confirm the statements of Greek writers, accord- 
ing to which the Babylonians related that the gods destroyed 
the Tower by winds. The name Bab-el signifies ' ' Gate of God, " 
and is a Semitic translation of the older Accadian name of the 
place, Ca-dimirra, which may possibly refer to the building of 
the Tower. As the Accadian name of the month Tizri (Sep- 
tember) was "the month of the holy mound," while the deity 
who was connected with the building of the Tower was termed 
"the king of the holy mound," it is probable that the event in 
question was supposed to have taken place at the autumnal 
equinox. S. 



ej4 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

The Babylonians asserted that they had records 
written before the Flood, and that the cities of Babel, 
or Babylon, Sippara, Larancha, and Surippak were 
great cities before the Deluge. 1 Certainly, if there 
was a civilized race here for 1,000 to 1,500 years 
before the Flood, we might expect one day to 
find some traces of it ; but as yet no contempo- 
rary monuments have been discovered which can 
be placed earlier than B.C. 2300, and even this 
date may be too early for our oldest known monu- 
ments. 

The Babylonian traditions relate that after the Flood 
the people who were saved returned to Babylonia and 
repeopled the country ; and Greek translations have 
preserved a few names of monarchs supposed to be- 
long to the subsequent epoch ; but nothing whatever 
is known of the state of the country or nature of the 
government 

The cuneiform inscriptions throw a little light on 
this obscure interval, but some of the accounts are 
overloaded with miraculous and impossible stories, 

1 Larancha must be identified with Surippak (or Suripkhu, as 
the name may also be read), since Xisuthrus is made a native of 
Larancha by Berosus, while he is called a native of Surippak in 
the cuneiform Deluge Tablets. S. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 55 

from which it is difficult to separate the historical 
matter. 

From these it appears that in early times this part 
of the world was divided into many small principali- 
ties, when there arose a hero whom I provisionally 
call Izdhubar, but who corresponds in my opinion to 
the Nimrod of the Bible. The Biblical account of 
Nimrod will be found in Gen. x. 8-12, and this 
really forms the only certain and authentic notice of 
the hero. There is, however, a mass of later tradition 
with respect to him which may be partly founded on 
the statements of Babylonian history ; some of it, 
however, is evidently false. 

Izdhubar, whom I identify with Nimrod, is reported 
to have been a local Babylonian chief, celebrated for 
his prowess ; a mighty hunter and ruler of men, when 
some enemy, probably the chief of a neighbouring 
race, came down with a force of men and ships and 
attacked the city of Erech. 

Erech was a large Chaldean city, near the Euphra- 
tes, about 120 miles south of Babylon. It is men- 
tioned in Genesis as one of the capitals of Nimrod, 
and is now represented by the mounds of Warka. 
According to the Babylonian tradition, it was then 
devoted to the worship of Anu, god of heaven, and 



56 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

his wife, or consort, Anatu, and its ruler was a queen 
or goddess, named Ishtar, celebrated for her beauty 
and for her dissolute character. 1 

The enemy attacked the city and captured it, hold- 
ing it in subjection for three years, when, by the will 
of the gods, it was delivered by Izdhubar, who then 
made it the chief city of his dominions. Izdhubar, 
after gaining Erech, was desirous to secure for his 
new court a celebrated sage, named Heabani, who 
appears to have been in the power of a monster. 
The monster was killed by order of Izdhubar, 
and Heabani came to Erech to the court of 
Izdhubar. 

After the arrival of Heabani, he acted as astrologer 
and assistant to Izdhubar, and accompanied him in his 
various expeditions. Izdhubar then made war upon a 
chief named Humbaba, who ruled in a mountainous 
region clothed with pine-trees, and conquered him, 
annexing his dominions to Babylonia. Another chief, 
named Belesu, was then conquered, and probably 
many others whose names have been lost. Accord- 
ing to the legend, the dominions of Izdhubar now 
reached from the Persian Gulf to the Armenian 

1 Ishtar was the Ashtoreth of the Bible, the Astarte of Greek 
writers. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 57 

mountains, and from the Euphrates to Elam, all the 
chiefs within this region being subject to him. 

After this the story relates that Ishtar, queen of 
Erech, who appears sometimes as human, and some- 
times as divine, conceived a passion for Izdhubar, and 
offered to marry him. 

The character of Ishtar resembled that of the 
classical Venus. I think perhaps she may have been 
some notorious queen deified by the Babylonians ; 
but it is quite possible that she was only a personifica- 
tion of human passion. According to the Babylo- 
nians, she had been first married to Dumuzi, Tam- 
muz, or Adonis, whose tragical death was celebrated 
with great ceremony in the East (see Ezek. viii. 14). 
Afterwards, Ishtar is represented as leading a de- 
praved life until she met Izdhubar and offered to marry 
him. Izdhubar refused her offer, and pointed out her 
faithless conduct, on which she became enraged, and 
mounting to heaven, complained to her father Anu, 
who was the ruling divinity of that region. 

Anu being invoked by his daughter, at her request 
created a composite monster, a winged bull, which 
went to attack Izdhubar. The Babylonian monarch 
called his chiefs, and with the aid of Heabani they 
slew the animal. Ishtar then cursed Izdhubar, who 



58 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

had the animal cut up, and dedicated the horns in 
one of his temples. 

Izdhubar now made a triumphal entry into Erech, 
and feasted his chiefs in the hall of his palace, at the 
same time making proclamation of his great deeds 
round the city. The tablets go on to describe various 
other exploits of Izdhubar and Heabani, but we are 
told that misfortune came and put an end to this 
prosperity. Heabani was killed by some poisonous 
animal, and Izdhubar himself was struck with disease. 
Up to this point, although the narrative is full of 
absurdities and miracles, it possibly had some founda- 
tion in fact ; but the subsequent part of the history 
must be entirely mythical. 

This latter portion of the narrative relates that 
Izdubar bitterly mourned over the death of Heabani, 
and then set out from the city of Erech to seek Hasis- 
adra, the hero of the Flood, who was supposed by 
the Babylonians to be living with the gods somewhere 
near the Persian Gulf. It is remarkable that the 
Babylonian traditions surrounded with interest the 
region to the south of the country, where their own 
great rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, poured into 
the sea. Out of this sea they relate that there arose 
Cannes, the composite monster who, according to 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 59 

Berosus, taught civilization to the Babylonians. The 
building of the ark was placed here ; and this sea was 
considered part of the great chaotic deep out of which 
the world was formed ; while in this neighbourhood 
was the celestial region where the gods and spirits 
dwelt. 

The description of the journey of Izdhubar is purely 
a romance. He visits the region where the giants 
control the rising and setting sun ; he passes through 
a district of darkness, and emerges into a paradise. 
He afterwards visited the sea-coast, came into contact 
with a man named Siduri, and a woman named Sabitu, 
and later with a woman named Mua, to whom he 
relates the history of his connection with Heabani. 
About this time he falls in with a boatman named 
Urhamsi, 1 and they get out a boat and go to seek 
Hasisadra. 

The purpose of Izdhubar is to ask the sage to cure 
him of his illness, and to attain himself, if he can, to 
the same immortality as that enjoyed by Hasisadra. 

On the invitation of Izdhubar, Hasisadra is supposed 
to relate to him the story of the Flood (already given 
above) ; and then he instructs Urhamsi how to cure 

1 The reading of this name is very doubtful. S. 



Co HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

Izdhubar of his illness. Izdhubar after this returns to 
Erech, where he once more mourns over the lost 
Heabani. 

Such is the outline of the story of Izdhubar from the 
cuneiform inscriptions. How much historical matter, 
if any, underlies the story, I cannot tell ; but certainly 
no monuments of his age are known, and no confi- 
dence can be put in any of the details in their present 
form. The book of Genesis relates that after the Flood 
the people "journeyed from the east" to Shinar in 
Babylonia ; and this statement of the Bible shows that 
the writer of Genesis pointed to the same region as 
the inscriptions for the descent from the ark. Nizir 
lies to the east of the Euphrates valley, and in jour- 
neying from it to Shinar a western course would be 
taken. On the other hand, the mountain now called 
Ararat lies quite to the north of the Euphrates 
valley. 

Arrived in Babylonia from Nizir, the Bible describes 
the people as building the city of Babylon, and com- 
mencing there the erection of a tower, which work 
was stopped by Divine intervention. After the return 
to Babylonia, there arose a Cushite named Nimrod, 
who commenced an empire in the districts of Babel 
(Babylon), Erech (modern Warka, south of Babylon), 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 6l 

Akkad (near Sippara, north of Babylon), 1 and Calneh, 
which the Talmud identifies with Nipur or Niffer, 
east of Babylon, but which more probably lay near 
the Tigris. These four cities appear to have formed 
the centres or capitals of four states or districts into 
which in old times Babylonia was divided. 

I have already suggested the identity of Nimrod 
with the Izdhubar of the inscriptions. Although this 
is not proved, it is probable ; and there is certainly 
no other hero in the range of the Babylonian inscrip- 
tions likely to correspond with Nimrod. 

The early Christian writers identified Nimrod with 
a king in the list of Berosus called Evechous, who is 
said to have reigned over Babylonia after the return 
of the inhabitants for 2,400 years, and they give after 
him the name of a second king Chomosbolus for 2,700 
years. According to the history of Berosus, there 
reigned after the Deluge, commencing with Evechous, 
eighty-six kings, for a period of 34,080 or 33,091 years, 
down to the time when the Medes conquered Babylon. 
The long average of the reigns in this period proves 

1 Accad was rather a district distinct from Shinar (called 
Sumer in the inscriptions), and so called from its inhabitants, the 
Accadai, or "Highlanders." What Mr. Smith read as Agade, 
and identified with the Biblical Accad, is read by other scholars 
Agane. S. 



62 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

that we are not dealing here with history, but with 
mythical personages, or at best with traditionary 
heroes, whose reigns are greatly exaggerated. 

It is curious that the narrative of Berosus, after this 
period of 34,080 years, commences the historical part 
of the work, not with a native dynasty, but with a 
foreign conquest, the first dynasty being stated to be 
Median, 1 and to have consisted of eight kings, who 
reigned for 224 years. Beside the name of Izdhubar, 
the cuneiform inscriptions supply two or three other 
names of kings belonging to the long mythical or 
traditionary period after the Flood ; among these are 
Etanna, who built a city which may have been the 
same as Babel, Tammuz, and Ner. No monuments 
or remains of this period are known, but it is probable 
that there existed at one time in Babylonia rude and 
early monuments which were ascribed to this period ; 
for we are told in the Izdhubar legends that that hero 
raised stone monuments in memory of his celebrated 
journey to Hasisadra. 

1 As the Median dynasty of Berosus seems to have derived its 
name, not from the Media of classical geography but from the 
Accadian word mada, "country," it is possible that the dynasty 
may, after all, have been a native one belonging to the "country" 
of Babylonia. S. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 63 



CHAPTER III. 

CHALDEA, OR SOUTH BABYLONIA. 

Nipur and Ur Urukh and his buildings The religion and 
civilization of Ur Dungi The kings of Karrak The rise of 
Larsa. 

IN early times Babylonia appears to have con- 
sisted of several states, which in time became con- 
solidated into one. Of these states our monuments 
make us first acquainted with one in the south, the 
capital of which was Ur. At this time our indica- 
tions suggest that the parent city of Ur was Nipur, 
now Niffer, a city lying south-west of Babylon, be- 
tween the Euphrates and Tigris. On the site of Niffer 
there are now the ruins of a considerable city, divided 
into two parts by the dry bed of a river, probably in 
ancient times a branch of the Euphrates. 

Nipur was devoted to the worship of Bel, the great 
deity of the Babylonians, who was one of the three 



64 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

supreme gods ; and joined with his worship was that 
of his consort Belat, or Mylitta, and the god Ninip, 
lord of war and hunting, who was called his son. 

Of the time when Nipur was the leading city in 
this part of Babylonia, we have discovered no monu- 
ments; but immediately after, we find, when the 
monarchy of Ur arose, it was claimed that the god of 
Ur, the moon, was " the eldest son of Bel, the god of 
Nipur," the claim carrying with it evidently the asser- 
tion that he inherited the rule of his father, and his 
city the position of his father's seat, Nipur. 

Ur, the city which thus appears to have succeeded 
Nipur as capital, is represented by the mounds of 
Mugheir, about six miles from the Euphrates on its 
western bank, about lat. 31. It was probably not 
far from the old mouth of the Euphrates, but the 
river, in company with the Tigris, brings down so 
large an amount of material to deposit at its mouth, 
that the land rapidly accumulates at the head of the 
Persian Gulf, and the present mouth of the Euphrates 
is far from the original outlet of the river. The 
ruins of Ur are enclosed by a wall, something in the 
shape of a pear, and measuring about two miles 
round. The space round the town is full of graves 
of all ages, showing the long period through which 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 65 

the city flourished. This city was probably the Ur 
of the Chaldees, mentioned in Genesis xi. 28 as the 
birthplace of Abraham. 

According to the ordinary chronology of our Bible, 
it was in the twentieth century before the Christian 
era when Abraham left his Chaldean home to migrate 
into Syria ; and it is curious that so far as we can 
judge from the inscriptions, it was about this time 
that the city of Ur rose into importance. 

The city of Ur was devoted to the worship of the 
moon-god, called in early times Ur, and the place 
itself appears to have been named after that divinity 
" the city of Ur." l The rise of Ur caused the worship 
of the moon-god to become famous, and to extend 
over the whole of the country, the Babylonians ever 
after esteeming this divinity in preference to Shamas, 
the sun-god, and they always considered the moon 
to be masculine, while sometimes the sun was repre- 
sented as the son of the moon, and at other times as 
a female divinity. 

The earliest known ruler of the city of Ur was a 
monarch whose name is very uncertain ; it has been 

1 This is hardly correct. The title of the moon-god alluded 
to in the text is really Hur-ci, "protector of the land," while the 
true meaning of Uru or Ur is " the city." S. 
F 



66 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

read provisionally by Sir H. Rawlinson as Urukh, and 
compared with the Orchamus of Ovid and the Arioch 
of Genesis : these identifications are, however, very 
uncertain. 1 We have no knowledge of the age of 
Urukh, but he cannot well be placed later than the 
twentieth century B.C., while he may have been 
much earlier. The period of Urukh marks the age 
when our known contemporary monuments begin ; 
there must have been in many places earlier build- 
ings, works of art, and inscriptions ; but excavations 
in Babylonia have been so limited, that none have 
yet been brought to light. It is evident that the age 
of Urukh cannot be the starting-point of Babylonian 
civilization, because the remains of this period show 
the country well advanced in arts and sciences. 

The art of building was well known, and had 
reached a high state of excellence ; the material in 
general consisted of brick, either burnt or dried in 

1 It is probable that the true reading of the name is Lig- 
Bagas. At all events an inscription has been found on a cylin- 
der which calls the king Dungi the son of Lig-Bagas, and this 
king Dungi is probably identical with the monarch of that name 
to be mentioned presently. The first part of the name in ques- 
tion is certainly to be read Lig, " a lion ; " the second part is the 
name of the primeval goddess, the mother of the gods, called 
Zicum, or Zigara, "heaven," by the Accadians. S. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 67 

the sun ; but carving in stone was known and prac- 
tised, and inscribed stone tablets, and cylindrical 
stone seals of this age are in existence showing the 
advance of the people in these directions. Writing 
with the conventional cuneiform characters was well 
known and practised, most of the bricks and stone 
objects being inscribed with legends in these cha- 
racters. These inscriptions show that the language 
of the people was Semitic, although they were using 
a syllabary and style of writing which many scholars 
have supposed to be derived from a much earlier race. 1 

The government of the country appears then to 
have been in the hands of kings, of whom there were 
probably three or four ; and under them were " patesi," 
or viceroys, who ruled in the different districts. 

The religion of Babylonia, which was often modi 
fied in subsequent ages, was already woven into a 
poetic system, in which the gods were conceived of 
as begetting each other, holding rank in reference to 
each other, engaging in particular offices, and favour- 
ing each a particular locality or city. 

1 This is not quite correct, as several of the inscriptions of 
this age, like the proper names they contain, are not in Semitic, 
but in the Accadian, or agglutinative language of ancient 
Chaldea, S. 

F 2 



68 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

The three great gods were Anu, lord of the heavens ; 
Bel, lord of the visible world ; and Hea, lord of the 
sea and infernal regions. Anu was originally wor- 
shipped at the city of Erech, but in later times the 
goddess Ishtar took his place at this seat ; Bel had 
his chief seat at Nipur, and Hea at the city of Eridu. 
Sin, or the moon-god of the new capital Ur, was called 
eldest son of Bel ; Samas, the sun-god ; Nergal, god 
of war ; Ninip, a similar divinity ; Vul, 1 god of the 
atmosphere, with many others, were in great repute ; 
while among the female divinities Anatu, goddess of 
life and death, who was the female form and comple- 
ment of Anu ; Anunit, goddess of Akkad ; 2 Nana 
goddess of Erech ; Beltis, wife of Bel ; and Davkina, 
consort of Hea, were the most celebrated. 

From the engravings on the seals of this period it 
appears that long, flowing, embroidered dresses were 
used, and ornamental articles of furniture. Urukh, 
the earliest known king of Ur, probably began his 
reign only in the district round his capital, and after- 
wards extended his dominion over most of Babylonia. 
We are entirely ignorant of the conflicts and triumphs 
which led to the establishment of his empire, and can 

1 Rather Rimmon. S. J Rather Agaric. S. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 69 

only trace his power by the cities he ruled over, and 
the splendid edifices he raised. His reign appears to 
have been long and prosperous, and he was a greater 
builder than any other king excepting Nebuchad- 
nezzar. At the city of Ur he built the temple of the 
moon-god, and a ziggurat, or temple-tower, lying in 
the northern part of the town. This tower was built 
on a mound about twenty feet high. The building, 
so far as it has been explored, consists of two stages, 
with some traces of a third, or upper stage ; the lower 
stage is 198 feet long by 133 feet broad, and the 
middle stage 119 feet long by 75 feet broad. The 
form of the superstructure and height of the stages 
have not been made out, and it is quite likely that 
there were originally more stages. The body of the 
building consists of sun-dried bricks, with a facing ten 
feet thick, composed of burnt bricks, each side being 
further strengthened by shallow buttresses of the same 
material. 

This temple-tower was building during the reign of 
Urukh, and was left unfinished at his death. 

Numerous other buildings at the city of Ur were 
raised by Urukh, and among them a palace called the 
house of Rubu-tsiru, or " the supreme prince." 

At the city of Larsa, Urukh built the temple of the 



70 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

sun, called the house of " Parra," and at the city of 
Erech he built the temple of the heavens, which had 
originally been dedicated to the god Anu, but was 
now devoted to the worship of Ishtar, or Venus. At 
Nipur he built a temple to Bel, and a second to the 
goddess Belat or Beltis, the consort of Bel. At Zer- 
ghul he built a temple to Sar-ili, or the king of 
the gods. It is probable that further excavations 
would reveal numerous other buildings raised by this 
monarch, but our present information is in every way 
scanty. 

Urukh was succeeded by his son Dungi, who ruled 
as far north as Babylon. Dungi finished the tower at 
Ur, rebuilt the temple of Erech, and built a temple 
at Babylon. 

A fine cylindrical seal of the age of Urukh was dis- 
covered by Ker Porter, but subsequently lost ; another,, 
very similar, of the age of Dungi, is now in the British 
Museum. 

Several successors of Dungi are known : these kings 
have in most cases their names compounded with the 
name of the moon-god, but the pronunciation of this 
element is uncertain ; the inscriptions render it Ur, 1 

1 Rather Hur-ci . S. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 71 

Agu, Aku, Ida, and Sin. The worship of the moon 
became very celebrated on account of this deity being 
god of the capital city. 

The city of Ur in time declined, and another 
capital arose, named Nisin, or Karrak : the position 
of this place is unknown, but it was probably not far 
from Nipur. 

There is a difference in character between the in- 
scriptions of the kings of Ur and those of Karrak, 
which suggests the idea that they belonged to two 
different races. 

Among the kings of Karrak the two most important 
appear to have been Ismi- dagan and Libit-istar. Ismi- 
dagan repaired some of the buildings of Urukh. Some 
writers have placed him in the nineteenth century 
B.C., supposing him to be the same as an Ismi-dagan 
who then ruled in Assyria. Libit-istar has also left 
some remains. There is in the British Museum a 
fragment of a beautiful inscription relating his offer- 
ings in the temple of Bel, and a dream which the king 
afterwards had. 

The city of Karrak, like Ur, declined, and the 
ruling power passed to the city of Larsa, on the east 
side of the Euphrates, now represented by the ruins 
of Senkereh. The kings of Larsa had, however, at 



72 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 




BRONZE IMAGE OF KING GUDEA. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 



73 




BLACK MARBLE TORSO OF KING GUDEA, 
MUCH MUTILATED. 



74 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

first a very limited kingdom, only embracing the 
region of Ur and Larsa ; but it gradually grew in im- 
portance until it came under the influence of the 
rulers of Yamutbal, on the east of the Tigris. The 
first of these known was Simti-silhak : his son was 
named Kudur-mabuk. Kudur-mabuk gained such 
influence that he virtually ruled at Larsa, and placed 
his own son, Bim-agu, or Riagu, on the throne there. 
Kudur-mabuk and his son then made a joint attack 
on Karrak, and capturing the city, put an end to the 
power of that capital. Subsequent conquests com- 
pleted their dominion, which extended over most of 
Babylonia. The Chaldeans considered the fall of 
Karrak so important that they commenced to count 
from it as an era, and used it for their computations 
until the fall of Larsa. 

Riagu governed well under the regency of his 
father, and built temples, excavated canals, and en- 
gaged in various other valuable works. After about 
thirty years of peace, the dominions of Riagu were 
attacked by Hammurabi, 1 another of these kings, and 
the south of the country was conquered, never again 
to be the chief seat of power. 

1 Or Hammuragas. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 75 



CHAPTER IV. 

UPPER BABYLONIA. 

Cities of Upper Babylonia Agu-kak-rimi Sargon I. Naram- 
Sin Hammurabi Babylon made the capital The successors 
of Hammurabi, and the Kassite dynasty Intercourse with 
Assyria The Assyrian conquest of Babylonia. 

THE region of Upper Babylonia, probably the 
Akkad of the inscriptions, included all the country 
north of the city of Nipur, or Niffer. This region was 
the classical land of cuneiform literature, and from 
its terra-cotta libraries came most of the great works 
which were copied in Assyria. 

The following were the principal towns : 
Babylon, a city said to have been built in very early 
times, but which remained for some centuries of 
secondary importance. It became at length capital of 
the country, a position it held for more than 1,200 
years, until the Greek conquest of Asia. 

Borsippa, south-west of Babylon, a famous city, 
supposed to be the site of the Tower of Confusion. 



7 6 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 



Sippara, which consisted of two cities, one dedi- 
cated to Shamas, the other to Anunit. 




THE TEMPLE OF NEBO AT BORSIPPA : BIRS NIMRUD. 



Akkad, 1 near Sippara, the capital before the rise of 
Babylon ; Kisu and Harriskalama, two twin cities 
near Babylon. 

Cutha, a great city east of Babylon. 

1 Rather Agane. S. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 77 

The early history of Upper Babylonia is unknown. 
All we can do respecting it is to notice some of the 
names of the monarchs and their works : their dates 
and succession have not been discovered ; but it is 
probable that they were contemporary with the kings 
of Lower Babylonia. 

One of these kings was Agu, or Agu-kak-rimi, who 
ruled at Babylon, and restored the temple of Bel at 
that site. It appears by his inscription that before his 
time Babylonia had been worsted in war, and the 
images of Merodach and his consort Zirat-banit, the 
great gods of Babylon, had been carried captive into 
the land of Hani, a region, the position of which is 
uncertain, but which probably lay somewhere north- 
east of Babylon. Agu sent an officer, and recovered 
the images ; but his narrative leaves the impression 
that they were ransomed, and that Babylon had at 
this time only a subordinate position. 

Zabu, another of these kings, is only known as 
the builder of the temples of Samas and Anunit at 
Sippara. 

The most celebrated line of sovereigns in Upper 
Babylonia was the race of the kings of Akkad, 1 and 

1 Rather Ajjane. S. 



78 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

so far as we can judge, they reigned about B.C. 1700 
to 1550. The greatest of these sovereigns was named 
Sargon, which means " the right " or " true king." 
He emerged from a position of obscurity, being hus- 
bandman to a water-carrier, and he has left a curious 
inscription in which he claims relationship with the 
former royal family. He relates that his father's 
brother ruled over the country, and that his mother 
concealed his birth, and placing him in an ark of reeds 
daubed over with bitumen, abandoned him on the 
Euphrates. Akki, a water-carrier, going to the river, 
is said to have discovered the ark and brought up the 
child as his own. 1 We are ignorant of the circum- 
stances which led to the accession of Sargon, but 
another of his inscriptions relates a number of the 
prominent events of his reign. 

The Elamites, on the east of Babylonia, being 
troublesome, he made an expedition against them, 
and defeated them; then he attacked the Hittites, 
or Syrians, on the Upper Euphrates, and con- 
quered these, claiming the rule of the four races 
or regions. 

Within Babylonia itself were other states with which 

1 The inscription which relates this legend can hardly belong 
to the age of Sargon, but must be of much later date. S. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 79 

Sargon now came in contact, and which he subdued, 
reducing the whole of the country to his sway. 

After this, two expeditions against the Syrians fol- 
lowed, in both of which the Babylonian monarch 
claims the victory. Then he started on a long march 
of conquest to the Mediterranean. He appears to 
have met with considerable opposition, and the expe- 
dition lasted for three years. During it he reached 
the Mediterranean, and planting his standard by its 
shores, left there a tablet to commemorate the extent 
of his conquests. The next expedition of Sargon was 
against Kastu-bila of Kazalla, and after defeating him, 
he wasted the country. 

Sargon had hitherto been successful, and had im- 
posed his yoke on several of his neighbours. He had 
now to meet a formidable revolt. We are told that 
the elders of all the people revolted against him, and 
his people besieged him in his capital Akkad. 1 When 
his preparations were completed, Sargon sallied out 
of his city, and attacked and routed the revolters, 
putting an end to this disaffection. Once more 
assured at home, Sargon recommenced his foreign 
wars, and invading the neighbouring land of Subarti, 2 

1 Or Agane. 

1 Subarti was the highlands of Mesopotamia. 



So HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

wasted it with fire and sword, bringing back much 
spoil to his capital. 

Sargon was a great builder as well as a warrior. 
He rebuilt the city of Akkad, 1 raised a palace there, 
and either built or restored the great temple of 
Anunit ; and he founded a city, which he called Dur- 
Sargina, on the site of an old Chaldean town. Sargon 
probably reigned forty-five years, during which time 
he had extended the power of the kingdom of Akkad :7 
from Dilmun on the Persian Gulf to the shores of the 
Mediterranean ; but on every side lay kingdoms only 
under tribute, which revolted as soon as the sceptre 
passed into less vigorous hands. 

Sargon was succeeded by Naram-Sin, his son, who 
conquered the kingdom of Apirak ; and later on, the 
land of Maganna, the " ship region." This name 
Maganna is also applied to Egypt in later times, 3 but 
it is more probable that the Maganna of Naram-Sin 
was a region on the Persian Gulf. 

Naram-Sin completed Bit-ulbar, the temple of Anu- 
nit, which was left unfinished at his father's death. 

1 Or Agane. * Or Agane. 

3 Or rather to the peninsula of Sinai. It is very questionable 
whether Mr. Smith was right in interpreting the word as " ship's 
region." S. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 8 1 

After the time of Naram-Sin, the history of the 
kingdom of Akkad l is obscure, and nothing is certain 
until we come to the reign of Hammurabi. 

The reign of Hammurabi appears to mark an era 
in Babylonian history. Before his time we hear of 
kingdoms at Ur, Larsa, Akkad, 2 Babylon, Karrak, and 
other places ; and occasionally we find powerful 
monarchs, like Urtikh and Sargon, ruling all the 
country ; but we have no evidence that the whole of 
Babylonia was permanently united into a single 
monarchy before the time of Hammurabi. The race 
to which Hammurabi belonged is unknown, 3 and com- 
plete obscurity hangs over his early history. In the 
absence of any certain information, it is assumed that 
he commenced the Arabian dynasty of Berosus, and 
that he reigned near the middle of the sixteenth 
century B.C. Hammurabi ruled at Babylon, while 
Rim-agu and his father, Kudur-mabuk, possessed the 
south and east of the country. Hammurabi made 
war against Kudur-mabuk and his son, defeated their 
forces and overran the whole of Babylonia, uniting 
the country as far as the Persian Gulf into one 
monarchy. 

1 Or Agane. - Or Agane. 

3 He was probably a Cassite from Elam. S. 

G 



82 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

The influence and political power of the southern 
cities now departed, and henceforth Babylon stands 
forth as the sole capital of the country. Hammurabi 
took the titles of king of Babylon, king of Sumir and 
Akkad, and king of the four races, and fixed his court 
at the city of Babylon, where he increased the magni- 
ficence or the worship of Merodach, or Bel, the 
Belus of the Greeks ; and this deity ever afterwards 
held the first position among the gods of the 
country. 

Excepting a short statement of his conquest of 
Rim-agu and his father, and an incidental notice of 
his conquest of Surippak, nothing is known of the 
wars and triumphs of Hammurabi ; but he has left 
several notices of his buildings, showing the resources 
of his kingdom, the extent of his dominion, and the 
activity of his rule. 

At the city of Kisu, on the east of Babylon, now 
represented by the mounds of Hymer, Hammurabi 
restored the temple called Mite-urris, 1 dedicated to- 
the god Zamama, and built a ziggurat or tower, the 
top of which is said to have reached to heaven. This 
monarch also restored the temple called Silim-kalama.. 

1 Rather Mite-tassak, "the dwelling (?) of the hero.' r 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 83 

and built a city on the Tigris, named Kara-samas. 
At the city of Zarilab, in Chaldea, he built a temple 
to the goddess of the place, and he rebuilt the temple 
of Samas at Larsa (now Senkereh), raising there 
another of those remarkable ziggurats. 

Another great work of Hammurabi was a canal, 
called Hammurabi-nuhus-nisi ; he also built a palace 
at the city of Kilmad (now Kalwadha), near Baghdad, 
and here bronze rings, belonging to some of his 
mace-heads, have been discovered. During the reign 
of Hammurabi one of the annual floods, of greater 
volume than usual, destroyed the city of Abnuna, or 
Umliyas. Hammurabi probably reigned about ten 
years after he conquered the kingdom of Larsa. He 
was succeeded by Samsu-iluna, a monarch of whose 
reign little is known. Samsu-iluna excavated a famous 
canal, which was afterwards reckoned among the 
rivers of Babylonia. This canal he named Samsu- 
iluna-nagab-nuhsi. He also repaired the city of Dur- 
sargina, and made images overlaid with gold, which 
he dedicated in the temple of Saggal, at Babylon, to 
Merodach, and in the temple of Parra, at Larsa, to 
Samas. After the reign of Samsu-iluna complete 
darkness comes over Babylonian history : no records 
of the succeeding period have been found, and only 
c 2 



84 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

a few obscure and doubtful names are known. Among 
these we may perhaps count the name of Saga- 
saltiyas, a monarch who is only known as the restorer 
of the temples of Sippara. There were two cities of 
Sippara, one devoted to the worship of Anunit, the 
other to the worship of Samas ; the temples at these 
places were raised by an ancient king, named Zabu, 
and having fallen into decay were rebuilt by Saga- 
saltiyas. 

During the reign of another of these monarchs, 
named Harbi-sipak, there were some controversies 
between Assyria and Babylonia. These disputes form 
the first intercourse between the two countries known 
directly from the inscriptions. Probably a little time 
after the reign of Harbi-sipak l connected history be- 
gins in Babylonia with the reign of Kara-indas, who 
lived about the middle of the fifteenth century B.C. 
Kara-indas takes the titles " king of Babylon, king of 
Sumir and Akkad, king of Kassu, and king of Karu- 
duniyas." From this time the title " king of Kar- 
duniyas"was the general title given to Babylonian 
sovereigns by the Assyrians in their records. During 

1 The name should probably be rather read Murgas-Sipak. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 85 

the reign of Kara-indas, Assur-bel-nisi-su ruled over 
Assyria, and a treaty was made between the two 
powers respecting the boundary-line of these states. 
It is very likely that some provinces were in dispute, 
and that the limits of each territory varied according 
to the power of successive kings. The line of separa- 
tion at this time is not known, but it was probably a 
little north of the 35th parallel of latitude, between the 
Lower Zab, which was considered an Assyrian river, 
on the one side, and the river Turnat (modern Adhem), 
which was considered to be Babylonian, on the other. 
After Kara-indas Burna-buriyas reigned over Baby- 
lonia, about B.C. 1425. Burna-buriyas restored some 
Babylonian buildings. He continued the peace with 
Assyria, and confirmed the treaty which his predeces- 
sor had made respecting the boundaries of Babylonia. 
Shortly after this, about B.C. 1400, Assur-ubalid, king 
of Assyria, to cement the peace between Babylonia 
and his own country, gave his daughter Muballidat- 
Serua in marriage to the king of Babylon. It is not 
known who was then on the Babylonian throne, but 
shortly afterwards, about B.C. 1380, Kara-hardas, 1 the 



1 Rather to be read Kara-Murdas, "servant of the god Muru - 
das,' or Bel. S.' 



86 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

fruit of this marriage, and, therefore, the grandson of 
the king of Assyria, began to reign in Babylonia. The 
tribe of Kassu now appear on the scene as the lead- 
ing people in Babylonia. They were first mentioned 
in an inscription of Agu-kak-rimi, and again in the 
time of Kara-indas ; they were perhaps related to the 
tribe of the same name living north of Elam ; but 
nothing is known of their previous history or their 
advent in Babylonia. The Kassu being dissatisfied 
with the Assyrian influence at court, and disliking the 
foreign connections of the king, made a revolt against 
him, and slew him, setting up in his place a man 
named Nazi-bugas, whom the Assyrians assert to have 
had no right to the throne, and not to have been 
connected with the royal family. 

It appears that this revolution was not effected 
without opposition, and there was a party favourable 
to the restoration of the old line. Bel-nirari, king of 
Assyria B.C. 1375, who was son of Assur-ubalid, and 
therefore uncle of the murdered king of Babylon, 
resolved to avenge his death ; and marching into 
Babylonia routed the Kassu and slew Nazi-bugas, 
placing the crown on the head of a son of Burna- 
buriyas, supposed to be Kur-galzu, or Kuri-galzu. 
This interference of Assyria in the affairs of Babylonia 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 87 

was the commencement of an unfortunate policy, and 
inaugurated a series of wars between the two countries 
which lasted two hundred years. 

Kuri-galzu, although he attained his throne through 
Assyrian aid, does not appear to have trusted his 
allies, and he built a strong city, called Dur-kuri-galzu 
(now Akkerkuf). near Baghdad, to form a defence in 
the northern part of his dominion. He also restored 
some of the Chaldean temples, and was considered 
one of the most successful Babylonian monarchs. 

Kuri-galzu was succeeded by his son Mili-sipak, 
about B.C. 1350, and he by his son Merodach-bala- 
dan I., about B.C. 1325. In his time war broke out 
with Assyria, and Vul-nirari, king of Assyria, ravaged 
Upper Babylonia, and defeated the forces of the 
Kassu. Assyria now conquered the region of the 
Khabur, and came down past the junction of that 
river with the Euphrates to the city of Rapiku, which 
now formed the border between the two countries. 

Merodach-baladan is known only from a fine 
boundary-stone in the British Museum, on which a 
grant of land is recorded. 

Soon after this another war took place between 
Assyria and Babylonia, and the king of Assyria de 
feared Nazi-murudas, king of Babylonia, at the city 



88 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

of Kar-istar-agarsal. No other details of this war are 
known ; and from our broken notice it appears to 
have been about some question of boundary. A 
rectification of the frontier took place in favour of 
Assyria, it being now marked close to the river 
Turnat. 

The name of the Assyrian sovereign who defeated 
Nazi-murudas is lost ; but this may have been con- 
nected with the conquest of Babylonia by Tugulti- 
ninip, king of Assyria. Tugulti-ninip, son of Shal- 
maneser, ruled over Assyria probably at the beginning 
of the thirteenth century B.C., and we have the bare 
record left with respect to him, that he conquered 
Babylonia, and annexed it to Assyria, ruling under 
the titles of "king of Assyria" "conqueror of Kar- 
duniyas," and "king of Sumir and Akkad." This 
conquest of Babylonia probably forms an important 
era in the history, and may be the starting-point of 
the period of 526 years of Assyrian empire, according 
to Herodotus and Berosus. The date of the event is 
supposed to be B.C. 1273, Dut it must De noticed 
that all the dates in this part of the history are ex- 
tremely doubtful, being rough calculations on which 
Assyrian scholars themselves are not agreed. 

The united dominion of Assyria and Babylonia did 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 89 

not last long, for the Babylonians did not sit quietly 
under the Assyrian yoke. Soon after the death of 
Tugulti-ninip, about B.C. 1240, we find the two 
nations separate and at war ; the Assyrians led by 
Bel-kudur-uzur, and the Babylonians by a king, the 
first part only of whose name is preserved this is 
Vul .... The Babylonian sovereign defeated Bel- 
kudur-uzur, king of Assyria, and the Assyrian monarch 
was slain in the battle ; after which, perhaps by Baby- 
lonian influence, Ninip-pal-esar was raised to the 
throne of Assyria. The Babylonian monarch made a 
second expedition to Assyria soon after, about B.C. 
12 20, in order to capture the capital city Assur ; but 
his camp was attacked by Ninip-pal-esar, and he was 
forced to retreat to Babylonia. 

The history of this period is only known to us from 
Assyrian sources, no Babylonian texts being known 
during the thirteenth century B.C. 



90 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE ELAMITES IN BABYLONIA. 

Elam or Susiana Invasions of Babylonia by Kudur-nanhundi 
and Chedorlaomer Kudur-Mabuk Flood at Babylon Wars 
between Babylon and Assyria Nebuchadnezzar I. and Ma- 
ruduk-nadin-ahi Seven unknown kings. 

THE difficulties in the way of writing a history of 
Babylonia at present are well shown by our inability 
to fix with precision the various Elamite invasions of 
that country. Elam, or Susiana, embraced the country 
on the east of the river Tigris, including most of the 
plain south of the mountains, and a considerable 
district in the mountains, which, on this side, bound 
the great Euphrates Valley. Elam may be said 
roughly to have lain to the east of Babylonia, the 
chief seats of the Susian monarchy being on or near 
the river Ulai, which may be called the artery from 
Elam. The Elamites were of a totally different race 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 91 

from the Babylonians ; for, while the Babylonians in 
historic times were Semitic, that is, belonged to the 
same stock as the Arabs, Jews, and Assyrians, the 
Elamites were Turanians, and certainly differed in 
language and religion from their western neighbours. 

The Elamites were a restless warlike race, ever 
ready to take up the sword, and often making attacks 
upon Babylonia. The country was probably split up 
into varioiis kingdoms, and only at times subject to 
a single ruler. The great cities were Shushan, Ma- 
daktu, and Hidalu ; but there were many others, the 
seats of local chiefs or kings, only sometimes subject 
to the power of the king. 

The power and influence of Elam are shown by 
the numerous notices in the great Babylonian work- 
on astrology, where allusions are constantly made to 
the wars between Babylonia and the Elamites. 

One of the Assyrian monarchs, Assurbanipal (B.C. 
668-626), gives a curious relation, to the effect that a 
king of Elam, named Kudur-nanhundi, had invaded 
Babylonia, and carried away an image of the goddess 
Nana, which was worshipped in Babylonia ; and 
Assurbanipal appears to state that this event was 
1,635 years before his own conquest of Elam. This 
would give us the date of about B.C. 2280 for the 



92 HISTORY OF BABVLOMA. 

raid of Kudur-nanhundi into Babylonia; but some 
doubt hangs over the interpretation of the inscription, 
and it appears likely that this early date may, after 
all, refer to the original making of the image and not 
to its captivity. Other mutilated texts appear to 
mention a raid of Kudur-nanhundi, king of Elam, in 
the twelfth century B.C. ; and another Elamite 
monarch of the same name sent an army into Baby- 
lonia during the reign of Sennacherib. 

There is another detached notice of the Elamites 
in the i4th chapter of Genesis, where we are informed 
that an Elamite monarch, named Chedorlaomer, that 
is, Kudur-lagamar, ruled over Babylonia, having under 
him Amraphel, or Amarpul, king of Shinar, Arioch of 
Ellasar, and Tidal, or Turgal, king of the Goim (the 
Gutium of the inscriptions). Kudur-lagamar is said to 
have ruled over Syria, and part at least of Palestine, 
for twelve years ; and then, on the revolt of the Cities 
of the Plain, he marched into Palestine, in the four- 
teenth year, and ravaged a considerable part of the 
country. We are further told that, on his return, he 
was defeated by Abraham near Damascus, and lost 
a considerable portion of his booty. The ordinary 
marginal chronology of our Bibles places these events- 
about nineteen centuries B.C. ; but this date is by no 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA, 93 

means certain, scholars being very divided in opinion 
as to the date of Abraham. 

There can be no doubt that the i4th chapter of 
Genesis has preserved a most valuable fragment of 
Babylonian history, and the names and circumstances 
of the war so well correspond with what we should 
expect in early Babylonian history, that it must be 
considered a serious misfortune that we have not yet 
been able to fix the exact place and epoch of these 
events. 1 

Just before the time of Hammurabi, the influence 
of Elam is again noticed, Simti-silhak and his son 
Kudur-mabuk, who attained such power in Babylonia, 
belonging to the north-western part of that country. 
The Elamite origin of these rulers has been recog- 
nized from the time when their names were first 
discovered, and there has even been some sus- 
picion of a connection between Kudur-mabuk and 
the Kudur-lagamar, who was contemporary with 
Abraham. 

Our next notice of Elamite influence in Babylonia 
is from the inscriptions of Esarhaddon, king of 

1 It is possible that Arioch is to be identified with Eri-Aku 
(as the name of Rim-Agu is also written), the son of Kudur- 
mabug. S. 



94 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

Assyria and Babylonia B.C. 68 1. He relates that 
600 years before his time, or about B.C. 1280, there 
was war in Babylonia, and one party broke open the 
treasuries of the gods Bel and Nebo, and sent the 
gold and silver into Elam. For this it was supposed 
the vengeance of the gods fell upon Babylon, and one 
of the great canals, called the Arahtu, or Araxes, 
broke its banks during a flood, and overwhelmed the 
city, sweeping away both temples and houses in its 
irruption. This disaster is said to have so ruined the 
city, that the inhabitants who escaped went away, 
carrying their gods with them, and founded a city on 
another site. 

Here again comes a difficulty ; such a calamity was 
quite likely to happen, but at present it is impossible 
to fit the circumstance into any place in contem- 
porary Babylonian history. 

The vigorous rule of the Babylonian monarch who 
conquered and killed Bel-kudur-uzur, king of Assyria, 
put a stop for a time to Elamite raids into Babylonia ; 
but after him reigned a king named Zamama-zakir- 
idina B.C. 1200, under whom they once more com- 
menced. The Elamite king made the usual forays 
across the border, while, on the other hand, Assur- 
dayan, king of Assyria, to revenge the late Babylonian 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 95 

invasion of that country, crossed the frontier east of 
the Tigris, and wasted the region of the river Turnat 
with fire and sword. During the late wars, the terri- 
tory near the Lower Zab had been annexed to Baby- 
lonia, and the cities here, including Laba, Irriya, and 
Agarsalu, were captured by the Assyrians and plun- 
dered. 

Bel-zakir-uzur, the next king of Babylonia, was un- 
fortunate. In his time the Elamites were ruled by 
Kudur-nanhundi, who is said to have exceeded all his 
ancestors in his violence and injury to Babylonia. 
He invaded the country, and swept over it like a 
flood, leaving a terrible memory of the misfortunes 
he caused. 

Again a change happened : a king, named Nabu- 
kudur-uzur (Nebuchadnezzar), ascended the Babylo- 
nian throne, and soon revived the power of the 
country. Nebuchadnezzar invaded Assyria three 
times ; of his first expedition no details are known. 
In his second raid, he did not actually come into con- 
tact with the Assyrians, although Assur-ris-ilim, king 
of Assyria, raised a force to oppose him. The Baby- 
lonian monarch meeting some difficulties, burned his 
baggage, and retreated into his own country. In the 
third expedition Nebuchadnezzar met the forces of 



96 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

Assur-ris-ilim, and the Assyrian account states that the 
Babylonians were defeated with some loss ; but there 
is some slight doubt over these details. 

Nebuchadnezzar invaded Elam in revenge for the 
continual plundering expeditions sent out from that 
country, and a remarkable circumstance is mentioned 
with respect to this time. When the king was on the 
expedition, an enormous comet appeared, the tail of 
which stretched, like a great reptile, from the north to 
the south of the heavens. 

The revival of the country under Nebuchadnezzar 
was continued under his successor, Maruduk-nadin- 
ahi. Maruduk-nadin-ahi invaded South Assyria, and 
having worsted Tugulti-pal-esar, or Tiglath-pileser, 
king of Assyria, in battle, captured the city of Hekali, 
and carried off from there the images of the Assyrian 
deities, Vul and Sala. 

Tiglath-pileser, a monarch of great courage and 
military ability, did not rest under his defeat. The war 
was renewed with fury next year, and a battle was 
fought near the junction of the Suhana with the 
Lower Zab, in South Assyria. Here Maruduk-nadin- 
ahi was totally defeated, and the Assyrian monarch, 
following up his advantage, ravaged the region of the 
river Turnat ; then marching down the Tigris, cap- 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 97 

tured Dur-kurigalzu (Akkerkuf ), near Baghdad ; from 
thence he marched to Sippara of Shamas (modern 
Deyr ?), and after capturing that, to Sippara of Anu- 
nit (modern Abu-hubba?). From thence he marched 
in triumph to the capital, Babylon, which also fell 
into his hands. The whole of Upper Babylonia 
was wasted in this expedition; and besides these 
places, Upe, or Opis, on the Tigris, and the region 
from the river Khabur to Rapiqu were conquered. 

In spite of these reverses, the reign of Maruduk- 
nadin-ahi was on the whole a flourishing one, and 
several inscriptions of this period are known, giving 
details of sales of property, showing the prosperity of 
the country. 

The next Babylonian sovereign, Maruduk-sapik- 
zirrat, made peace with Assur-bel-kala, king of Assyria, 
about B.C. noo; but after his death a change of 
dynasty took place at Babylon, and a new king, 
whose name is uncertain (perhaps Maruduk-sadu-ni), 
ascended the throne. The Assyrian monarch was 
hostile to the new ruler, and made an invasion of 
Babylonia, in which he does not appear to have gained 
any advantage. 

Nothing is now known of Babylonian history for 
some time, and in this blank it is probable a fragment 

H 



98 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

of history should be placed, which gives an account 
of the following seven kings. 

Simmas-sipak, son of Iriba-Sin, was the governor 
or leader of the tribes by the Lake Nedjif. He took 
the crown, ruled with ability and success for seventeen 
years, and was buried in the cemetery of Sargon. 
There is a tablet in the British Museum dated in his 
twelfth year. 

After him came Hea-mukin-ziru, son of Qutmar, 
who set himself up as king, but was not recognized, 
and only ruled three months. Kassu-nadin-ahu, son 
of Sappai, followed ; he ruled for six years. These 
three kings are said to have belonged to the region of 
the sea (Nedjif Lake), and to have ruled for twenty- 
three years. 

After them came Ulbar-surki-idina, son of Bazi, 
who reigned for fifteen years. He had been leader of 
the prefects during the reign of Maruduk-nadin-ahi, 
and is mentioned as a witness on several legal docu- 
ments. 

To him succeeded his brother, .... -kudur-uzur, 
for two years, and then another brother .... -Suqa- 
muna, for three months : the reigns of the three 
amounting, it is said, to twenty years and three 
months. After the rule of the sons of Bazi, the king- 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 



99 



dom fell into the hands of the Elamites, and a 
monarch of this race ruled for six years ; then came 
another revolution, the account of which is lost. 




CONTRACT TABLET. 



H 2 



100 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE PERIOD OF THE ASSYRIAN WARS. 

Obscure kings Nabu-pal-iclina and Assur-nazir-pal Disputed 
succession Conquests of Shalmaneser The Chaldees Ma- 
ruduk-zakir-izkur Semiramis The era of Xabonassar The 
Babylonian campaigns of Tiglath-pileser. 

A FEW obscure notices are all that remain of the next 
period of Babylonian history. 

A king named Vul-pal-idina restored the walls of 
Nipur, and rebuilt the temple at Kisu. 

Vul-zakir-uzur was engaged in controversy with 
Assur-narari and Nabu-dayan, kings of Assyria. 

Iriba-maruduk is only known from an inscription 
on a weight. 

Merodach-baladan II., his son, restored the temple 
of Erech. Sibir invaded Assyria, and burnt the city 
of Adlil. Nabu-zakir-iskun was at war with Assyria, 
and during his reign the king of Assyria invaded 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. IOI 

Babylonia, capturing several cities along the Tigris ; 
among them Baghdad is now mentioned for the first 
time. 1 

With these doubtful notices some two hundred 
years pass, until the time of Nabu-pal-idina, who 
reigned from about B.C. 880 to 853. During his time 
the Assyrian power was reviving under Assur-nazir- 
pal, and the Babylonians felt some alarm at the pro- 
gress of that conqueror. 

When in B.C. 879 Assur-nazir-pal determined to 
attack the Suhi or Shuites, and Sadadu, prince of 
Shua, sent to Babylon for aid, Nabu-pal-idina resolved 
to assist them, in order to check the power of Assyria. 
Accordingly a Babylonian force marched to the aid 
of the Shuites, who lived along the river Euphrates, 
below its junction with the Khabur. The capital 
city of the Shuites was named Sum ; it lay on the left 
or eastern bank of the Euphrates, and close to the 
stream. The Babylonian force, largely composed of 
the Kassi, joined the troops of the Shuites, and both 
occupied Suru, awaiting the coming of Assur-nazir- 
pal. The Assyrian monarch passing along by the 



1 This is doubtful. The name of the city may be read Khu- 
dadu, as well as Bagdadu. S. 



IO2 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

Khabur to its junction with the Euphrates, and then 
marching down the Euphrates, arrived at Suru, where 
he found the Shuites and Babylonians entrenched. 
Assur-nazir-pal at once attacked the place, and after 
two days' fighting, carried it by assault Sadudu, with 
seventy of his men, threw himself into the Euphrates 
to save his life, and escaped the hands of the Assy- 
rians. In the city, Assur-nazir-pal captured fifty car- 
riages and their men belonging to Nabu-pal-idina, king 
of Babylonia, with Zabdan his brother, three thousand 
troops, and Bel-pal-idina, the leader of the army. Be- 
sides these, numbers of the soldiers were slain, and 
much treasure of all descriptions fell into the hands 
of the Assyrians. 

This disastrous end to his attempt to check the 
Assyrian power led Nabu-pal-idina to adopt in future 
a policy of non-intervention ; and when next year the 
whole region of the Khabur and the land of Shua 
revolted against Assyria, the Babylonian monarch did 
not interfere. 

An agreement was subsequently arrived at, by which 
the frontiers of Assyria and Babylonia were definitely 
settled, and a treaty followed between Nabu-pal-idina 
andShalmaneser,son of Assur-nazir-pal, king of Assyria. 

These boundaries were as follows : on the Eu- 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 103 

phrates, the city of Rapiqu south of Shua, about 
latitude 34 ; on the east of the Tigris, the line pass- 
ing along by the cities of Tul-bari; the mounds 
of Zabdan and Abtani to the cities of Hirimu and 
Harutu ; these places all lying south of the Lower 
Zab. These lines of boundary were really the tra- 
ditional limits of the two powers ; and although they 
had fluctuated from time to time, there had been no 
real advance on either side for the past five hundred 
years. 

About B.C. 853 Nabu-pal-idina died, and was suc- 
ceeded by his son Maruduk-zakir-izkur ; but another 
claimant for the throne appeared in the person of 
Maruduk-bel-usati, a brother of the new king, who 
raised a revolt and seized a considerable part of the 
country. 

Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, who had been on 
friendly terms with the father of the two contending 
princes, in B.C. 852 marched into Babylonia to settle 
the matter. He passed the Lower Zab, and marching 
to the region of the river Turnat, he captured Me- 
Turnat and Lahiru. 

Next year he went again to Babylonia, B.C. 851, 
and brought Maruduk-bel-usati to bay in Gananati 
here he defeated him, and the Babylonian prince fled 



% 

104 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

to Halman -in the mountains east of the Tigris. Here 
he was followed by the Assyrians and killed, with his 
principal adherents. After the death of Maruduk- 
bel-usati, Shalmaneser marched in triumph to Babylon, 
Borsippa, and Cutha, and offered high sacrifices on 
the altars there to the chief divinities of the country. 
Shalmaneser then went to the home of the Chaldees, 
the region of the lake of Nedjif, called then the seu 
of Marute. This is the second time the Chaldees are 
mentioned in the inscriptions, the first notice being 
a poetical statement of Assur-nazir-pal, B.C. 879, 
who states that the terror of his soldiers swept over 
Chaldea. 

Of the origin of the Chaldees we know nothing. 
Some of the early Babylonian dynasties are called 
Chaldean by Berosus, and we sometimes use the word 
to designate these early sovereigns; but nothing is 
really known of the Chaldees at that period, and they 
are not mentioned in any known document before 
B.C. 879. They were probably a new race, which 
had not long appeared in Babylonia ; and their being 
located on the west of Babylonia and in the region of 
the Persian Gulf, makes it probable that they were 
immigrants from the part of Arabia lying near the 
shore of the Persian Gulf. A theory has been pro- 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 105 

pounded that they originally came from North As- 
syria : this is purely visionary, and is opposed to the 
evidence of the inscriptions. 1 

In the time of Maruduk-zakir-izkur, the Chaldeans 
had not possession of Babylonia, but were considered as 
outlying tribes, governed by their own kings ; and they 
were divided into two principal branches, the Dak- 
kuri, lying west of the Euphrates by Nedjif, and the 
Ukan or Yakin, lying south-east of these by the Eu- 
phrates, extending to the Persian Gulf. Adini, king 
of the Dakkuri, and Musallim-maruduk, of the Ukani, 
gave presents as tribute to Shalmaneser in the city of 
Babylon. 

The next monarch known in Babylonia bore the 
name Maruduk-baladsu-iqbi, and reigned during the 
time of Samsi-Vul, king of Assyria. In his fourth 
expedition, about B.C. 820, this Assyrian monarch 
marched into Babylonia, and after indulging in the 

1 The Chaldeans are called Caldai on the monuments, a word 
which cannot be identified with the Casdim of the Old Testa- 
ment (translated " Chaldeans," or "Chaldees," in our version). 
The word Casdim is perhaps connected with the Assyrian casidu, 
' ' conqueror. " The Caldai first obtained possession of Babylonia 
under Merodach-Baladan, B.C. 722, and from that time forward 
formed so integral a part of the population of the country as to 
give their name to it. S. 



106 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

diversion of a lion-hunt on the w^ay, reached the 
region of the river Turnat, where he besi eged the city 
of Me-Turnat. The people of this city submitted, and 
were sent as captives to Assyria ; and then, crossing 
the river Turnat, the Assyrian king attacked and de- 
stroyed the city of Garsale and two hundred cities 
round it. Then, passing Yalman and besieging Di- 
hibina, which submitted, but was hardly treated, three 
hundred villages round were spoiled ; then, marching 
to Datebir, he destroyed two hundred more places, 
trampling down the plantations, burning the villages, 
killing the men, and carrying away the women and 
valuables. Some of the fugitives fled to Kiribti-alani 
for shelter ; but the Assyrians followed them, and de- 
stroyed the city, killing there five hundred men. The 
fugitives who escaped fled to the city of Dur-papsukul, 
which was situated in the midst of a stream, and was 
very difficult to approach. The Assyrians attacked 
and captured the city, and took four hundred and 
forty -seven villages, putting to the sword three thou- 
sand people, and carrying away about an equal num- 
ber. Here the Assyrians sacked a palace of the king 
of Babylonia, and carried away rich spoil. Maruduk- 
baladsu-iqbi, king of Babylon, in the mean time was 
preparing to resist this invasion, and collected a mis- 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 1 07 

cellaneous army, partly of Babylonians and partly of 
mercenaries, from Chaldea, Elam, Zimri, and Aram ; 
these he posted at Ahadaba, near Dur-papsukul. Here 
he was attacked by Samsi-Vul, and completely de- 
feated ; five thousand of his troops were slain, and 
two thousand captured; one hundred chariots, two 
hundred carriages, his pavilion, couch, and his camp 
also fell into the hands of the victors. 

Nothing is known of the fruits of this war, and it is 
uncertain if the Assyrians reaped any benefit but 
plunder from the expedition. 

A little later in the reign of Samsi-Vul, king of 
Assyria, war was renewed in Babylon. In B.C. 816, 
the Assyrians marched to Zaratu, and next year again 
to the region of the Turnat where they took the city 
of Dur, and celebrated a festival to the great god 
of that place. In B.C. 814 the Assyrians attacked 
Ahsana, and in B.C. 813 advanced to Chaldea, 
then in a final campaign marched to Babylon in 
B.C. 812. 

Unfortunately no details are preserved of these 
wars, and thus we have no knowledge of the condi- 
tion of the country and the events which took place. 
It is apparent, however, that the Assyrians were now 
gaining ground; and, besides the country open to 



I08 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

their inroads, it is probable that they now annexed 
the region of the river Turnat on the east of the 
Tigris. At any rate, the boundary between the Zab 
and Turnat is not mentioned again. 

The death of Samsi-Vul took place about this time, 
B.C. 812 ; and Vul-nirari III. ascended the throne of 
Assyria. 

The new king was engaged for several years in 
expeditions to Syria and Media, and it was not until 
B.C. 796 that he marched against Babylonia. In this 
and the next year the town of Dur, which was a fron- 
tier town of Babylonia, was the point of attack, no 
advance being made into the interior of the country. 
A little later, in B.C. 791, an expedition was made 
by the Assyrians against a border tribe named the 
Ituha ; these, probably, lay above Hit on the Eu- 
phrates. 

These three slight expeditions of the Assyrians, 
which may not have been directed against the Baby- 
lonian monarchy, indicate a change of policy, and a 
period of peace between Babylonia and Assyria. After 
the long wars of the last reign, the leadership of 
Assyria had been generally acknowledged, and the 
Chaldean kings now gave tribute to Assyria. 

The wife of Vul-nirari, king of Assyria, was named 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 1 09 

Sammuramat, or Semiramis ; she is supposed by many 
to be the celebrated queen of that name mentioned 
by Herodotus, who was said to have built the city of 
Babylon. Some connection between Assyria and 
Babylonia is argued on these grounds; but these 
conclusions are very doubtful, and there is not the 
slightest proof of any political union between the 
two countries during this reign. The name of Semi- 
ramis may have belonged to several queens, and the 
celebrated woman of that name probably flourished 
much earlier. 

During the reign of the next Assyrian sovereign, 
Shalmaneser III., B.C. 783-773, there were three ex- 
peditions to Ituha, in B.C. 783, 782, and 777 ; and in 
the following reign, that of Assur-dayan, B.C. 773-755, 
there was one to Gananati, B.C. 771, one to Ituha, 
B.C. 769, and a second to Gananati, in B.C. 767. 
No details of these wars are known, and after the last 
expedition complete darkness comes over the history 
of Babylonia for twenty years. When the history of 
Babylonia recommences in B.C. 747, we arrive at a 
period in which the Assyrian annals are far more 
complete ; and in the canon of the kings of Babylon 
left by Ptolemy we have the names of the Babylonian 
rulers from this period down to the end of the kingdom. 



110 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

According to the canon of Ptolemy, a ruler named 
Nabonassar commenced his first year at Babylon in 
B.C. 747, and reigned down to B.C. 734. In the 
Assyrian inscriptions no mention is made of Nabo- 
nassar, but much light is thrown on the condition of 
the country. In the year B.C. 746 a revolt took place 
in Calah, which ended in the elevation of Tiglath- 
pileser to the Assyrian throne, B.C. 745 ; and the 
same year the new king, preparing for a more vigor- 
ous policy, marched his army against Babylonia. 

It appears from the notices of these campaigns 
that there had been a great decline of the central 
power in Babylonia, while various tribes of Chaldeans, 
Arameans, and Arabs had increased in every direc- 
tion. These tribes now spread all over the country, 
owning little subjection to Babylon, and encroaching 
on every side on the settled population. Among them 
are enumerated the Ituha, Rubuha, Havaran, Luhu- 
atu, Harilu, Rubbu, Rapiqu, Hiranu, Rabili, Naziru, 
Nabateans, Bagdadites, Hindaru, Hagarenes, and 
many others. The Chaldeans were now no longer 
divided into only two tribes ; beside the Dakkuri and 
Yakin, there had arisen the tribes of Silani, Sahala, 
and Amukkan ; and another branch had established 
themselves at the ancient city of Larak or Larancha. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. Ill 

The original native population of the country appears 
to have decayed, and the Chaldeans were rapidly 
taking their place. 

The object of the first campaign of Tiglath-pileser 
was to check the power of the various wandering 
tribes now overrunning the country. The campaign 
was conducted through the region of the river Dijaleh, 
on the east of the Tigris; and from thence the Assyrian 
monarch crossed the Tigris, and captured Dur-kuri- 
galzu and Sippara of Shamas, together with the smaller 
cities Kalain, Qurbut, Pahhaz, Kinnipur, and Pazitu. 
At the close of the expedition, Tiglath-pileser pos- 
sessed all the region of the Tigris, as low down as 
Nipur (now Niffer), and appointed military governors 
to administer the districts ; but he does not yet appear 
to have attacked the west of the country, and all the 
region of Babylon and the Euphrates remained inde- 
pendent. Numbers of the people conquered in this 
expedition were carried away by Tiglath-pileser to 
people the new city Kar-Assur, which he now founded 
in South Assyria. 

The Chaldeans were but little affected by the war in 
B.C. 745, as their principal seats lay in the west of the 
country, which this time escaped the Assyrian inroads. 

According to Ptolemy's Canon, Nabonassar died 



112 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

B.C. 734, and was succeeded by Nabius or Nadius, 
who may be represented by the Nabu-usabsi of the 
Assyrian inscriptions. This is, however, doubtful, as 
Nabius probably died B.C. 732, while Nabu-usabsi 
is mentioned in the next year, B.C. 731, when Tiglath- 
pileser made his second expedition to Babylonia. 

In this expedition, B.C. 731, Tiglath-pileser directed 
his efforts against the Chaldeans, who had possession 
of the Euphrates region, the Arameans and Gambuli 
on the Tigris having been subdued in B.C. 745. 
Attacked by Tiglath-pileser, the various tribes showed 
no union, and made no concerted resistance ; each 
kingdom stood on its own defence, and consequently 
most of them felt the full force of the Assyrian attack. 

The first tribe met by Tiglath-pileser was that of the 
Silani. Nabu-usabsi, king of the Silani, shut himself 
up in his capital, Sarapanu, where he was attacked by 
the Assyrians, who captured the place and destroyed 
it. Nabu-usabsi fell into the hands of Tiglath-pileser, 
and was impaled in front of his capital. His wife and 
children, gods and wealth, with 55,000 people, were 
carried captive. The tribe of Sahala was next at- 
tacked ; Zakiru of Sahala was captured, and sent in 
fetters to Assyria. Tiglath-pileser then proceeded 
against Kinziru, king of the tribe of Amukkan, whose 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 113 

capital city was named Sapiya. Kinziru retired to 
Sapiya, and was besieged there by Tiglath-pileser. 
Considerable time had been taken up in the siege and 
capture of the other towns, and the season was pro- 
bably now far advanced. This was most probably the 
reason why Tiglath-pileser, after ravaging the country 
and destroying the trees, retired without taking the 
city. While the Assyrian monarch was engaged in 
the siege of Sapiya, some of the other Chaldean chiefs, 
fearing that if he captured Sapiya their turn would 
come next, sent and gave tribute to Tiglath-pileser. 
These princes were Balasu (Belesys), the chief of the 
Dakkuri, Nadini, the chief of Larancha, and Merodach- 
baladan, of the tribe of Yakin, chief of the region of the 
Euphrates to the Persian Gulf. 

Probably about this time Tiglath-pileser formally 
proclaimed himself king of Babylonia, and in B.C. 
730 and 729 he instituted festivals in the principal 
Babylonian cities in honour of the great gods of the 
country. These offerings were customary when the 
kings of Assyria went to Babylon. They are men- 
tioned before in the annals of Shalmaneser II. and 
Vul-nirari III. At Babylon, Tiglath-pileser took part 
in the ceremony called taking the hand of Bel, which 
probably accompanied the accession of a new king. 

i 



114 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

Here he also made sacrifices to Bel, or Merodach, 
and his consort Zirat-banit. At Borsippa, he sacri- 
ficed to Nebo and his consort Tasmit ; and at Cutha, 
to Nergal and his consort Laz. Offerings were also 
made in the cities of Kisu, Sippara, Nipur, and Ur. 
The canon of Ptolemy gives here the two names of 
Chinzirus and Porus, which represent Kinziru and 
Pul, their first year in Ptolemy being B.C. 731, and 
their last B.C. 727. 

Some scholars consider that the name of Porus, or 
Pul, here given among the Babylonian kings, repre- 
sents Tiglath-pileser, who, about this time, claimed 
the title of king of Babylon. At the close of the 
reign of Tiglath-pileser at Nineveh, and of Kinziru 
and Pul at Babylon, B.C. 7 2 7, the canon of Ptolemy 
gives the name of Ilulseus, or Yugseus, at Babylon, 
and Shalmaneser at Nineveh. Nothing is known of 
the connection between these two, and it is probable 
that Shalmaneser was, during all his short reign, too 
busily engaged in Palestine to visit Babylonia ; but one 
military report to the king of Assyria connects his name 
with some events at the city of Dur and the land of 
Chaldea. It is believed that the difficulties met with 
by Shalmaneser in Syria led to a revolt on a change 
of dynasty at Nineveh, Sargon, the new Assyrian 
monarch, ascending the throne B.C. 722. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 115 



CHAPTER VII. 

MERODACH-BALADAN AND THE DESTRUCTION OF 
BABYLON. 

Merodach-baladan, the Chaldean, conquers Babylon Defeated 
by Sargon Sargon king of Babylon for five years Hagisa 
Merodach-baladan retakes Babylon Battle of Kisu Bel- 
ibni governor of Babylon Assur-nadin-sum Sennacherib's 
naval expedition to Nagitu Revolt of Suzub Elam devas- 
tated by the Assyrians Battle of Khalule Destruction of 
Babylon by Sennacherib. 

THE circumstances which happened at Nineveh 
at the time of Sargon's accession to the throne 
favoured an attempt to snatch Babylonia from the 
grasp of Assyria, and this was accomplished by 
Merodach-baladan, one of the most remarkable men 
in Babylonian history. 

He is first heard of in B.C. 731 sending presents 
of gold and silver, vases of gold, necklaces of gold 
and pearls, precious woods, robes, spices, oxen, and 

I 2 



Il6 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

sheep as presents to Tiglath-pileser to ward off an 
attack of the Assyrian army. 1 

His territory then lay along the Euphrates, and he 
had a powerful castle near the river, called Dur-yakin, 
or the fortress of Yakin, which formed his centre of 
government. He ruled a people half-traders, half- 
pirates, and by his activity extended his power until 
the whole region of the Persian Gulf was under 
his sway. His next step was to unite all the Chal- 
dean tribes, and then, taking advantage of the change 
of dynasty at Nineveh, he marched to Babylon, B.C. 
722, put an end to the Assyrian dominion, and pro- 
claimed himself king of Babylonia. 

Sargon, the new king of Assyria, after crushing the 
revolt in Palestine, which had impeded his predeces- 
sor, marched, B.C. 721, against Babylonia. Merodach- 
baladan, unable to meet Sargon alone, made alliance 
with Humba-nigas, the king of Elam ; and when 
Sargon descended against them, he was met by the 
forces of the Susian king, who had crossed the Ela- 
mite frontier to the city of Dur, or Duran. 

Here a battle took place, and the Assyrians drove 



1 Meroclach-baladan is called the son of Yagina or Yakin, the 
Yugseus of Ptolemy's Canon. S. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 1 17 

back the army of Humba-nigas. After which, ad- 
vancing into Babylonia, Sargon wasted the lands of 
some of the tribes, but did not come up with Mero- 
dach-baladan, or reach Babylon itself. Next year 
Sargon was forced to march into Syria ; and he was 
engaged in Media, Armenia, Asia Minor, and Pales- 
tine down to the year B.C. 711, having no opportunity 
of renewing his expedition against Babylon. 

During this period Merodach-baladan governed 
Babylonia with ability, and the country was generally 
prosperous ; but expecting an attack from Sargon, he 
sent, about B.C. 712, an embassy to Hezekiah, king 
of Judah, to make an alliance with him against 
Assyria. 

The period for this resistance was, however, past. 
In B.C. 711, Sargon came down on Palestine, and 
crushed the revolt there, and then prepared to attack 
Merodach-baladan. 

Failing in his projected alliance with Judah, Mero- 
dach-baladan sent to Sutur-nanhundi, or Sutruk- 
nanhundi, king of Elam, and induced him to join in 
a league against Assyria. 

With respect to the origin of his expedition, Sargon 
tells us that Merodach-baladan, son of Yakin, king 
of Chaldea, " who, within the sweep of the sea of 



Il8 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

the rising sun, had his country on the sea and to the 
flood trusted, the worship and pledges of the great 
gods forsook, and ceased his presents. Humba- 
nigas, the Elamite, to his aid he had brought, and all 
the Suti, the people of the desert, he had made hostile ; 
he had prepared war, and the countries of Sumir 
and Akkad for twelve years against the will of 
the gods, and Babylon, the city of Bel, he had pos- 
sessed and controlled." 

Both parties in the coming struggle appealed to the 
same deities, and both accused the other of impiety, 
while the Babylonian priests stood ready to bless 
either if victorious. 

Merodach-baladan, aware of the coming attack, 
was not idle. He repaired the fortifications, and col- 
lected his army, calling, among others, the tribe of 
Gambul to garrison the city of Dur-athara, which lay 
near the river Surappi, on the road of Sargon to 
Babylon; and he strengthened the fortifications, in 
the hope that the place would stop the advance of 
Sargon. To the help of the Gambulai he threw into 
the city 600 horses and 4,000 troops, and to increase 
the defence, they pierced the banks of the Surappi, 
and flooded the region round the city. These pre- 
cautions were of no avail. Sargon invested the city, 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 1 19 

and captured it in the evening, taking 18,490 pri- 
soners, with horses, asses, camels, oxen, and sheep. 
A considerable body of people, under eight chiefs, 
who had sheltered themselves in the marshes and 
reed-beds beside the river Ukni, hearing of the capture 
of the city, were terrified, and sent a present of oxen 
and sheep to Sargon as a token of submission. The 
Assyrian monarch rebuilt the city, calling it Dur-Nabu. 
He appointed a general in command, and directed 
the payment of an annual tribute of i talent 30 manas 
of silver, a quantity of grain, one ox, and one sheep. 
Several other places fell, among them Qarinani, 
the city of Nabu-uzalla, chief of the Gambulai. Three 
other tribes, the Hindaru, the Yatbur, and the Puqudu 
(the Pekod of Jeremiah 1. 21), fled in the night, and 
taking to the water of the river Ukni, made the canal 
of Umliyas their refuge. Sargon shut them in by build- 
ing two forts of reeds and mud, and they were starved 
into a surrender. Yanuqu of Zame, Nabu-uzalla of 
Aburi, Izmasunu and Haukanu of Nuhani, and Sahali 
of Ibuli, five chiefs of the Pekod, Abhata, chief of the 
Ruhua and Bel-ninu, Samiha, Saphar, and Rapiha, 
chiefs of the Hindaru, were the leaders who sub- 
mitted, and their tribute was paid in oxen and sheep r 
delivered in the city of Athara. Fourteen of the 



120 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

principal cities by the river Ukni were now ravaged, 
and Sargon then attacked Samhana and Dur-sar, two 
fortresses of Sutur-nanhundi, king of Elam, which 
were situated in the district of Yatbur, on the east of 
the Tigris. Singusibu, the Elamite commander, and 
7,520 of the Elamite troops, 12,062 people, with 
horses, camels, asses, mules, and much spoil, were 
captured. Up to this time the region of Lahiru had 
belonged to Elam ; now Sargon captured it, and 
added it to the Assyrian borders ; then passing the 
Elamite cities of Tul-humba, Bube, and Hamanu, in 
the district of Rasi, he attacked Bit-imbi, and entered 
it. During this raid into his territories, Sutur-nan- 
hundi, king of Elam, retired with his army to the 
mountains, fearing to meet the large and well-equipped 
army brought into his country by Sargon. The mo- 
tive of the Assyrian monarch was to drive back the 
Susians,and prevent them from giving aid to Merodach- 
baladan ; and for this purpose he garrisoned the cities 
he had captured from the Elamites in Yatbur, and 
held them to protect his rear, while he marched west- 
ward across the Tigris to attack Merodach-baladan 
Passing over the intermediate country, he crossed to 
the west of the Euphrates, and took up his head- 
quarters at Dur-ladini, in the district inhabited by the 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 121 

tribe of Dakkuri. Merodach-baladan, who was then 
at Babylon, was at once alarmed, and sent rich pre- 
sents, a couch and a throne of silver, a table, a plate 
and goblet, all of silver, and a necklace, to Sutur- 
nanhundi, king of Elam, with urgent requests that he 
would come to his aid. The Susian monarch, how- 
ever, had just felt the weight of the Assyrian sword ; 
his borders were ravaged, his frontier forts captured 
and garrisoned by the troops of Sargon, and he him- 
self had retired to the mountainous district in the east 
of his dominions for fear of the Assyrians. Under 
these circumstances, Sutur-nanhundi sent to say that 
the Assyrian forces blocked his way, and he could not 
come. 

Merodach-baladan now found himself alone, and 
being a foreigner at Babylon, could not depend upon 
the people in a siege ; he therefore retired at once 
to the city of Iqbi-Bel, preparatory to a further retreat 
to Dur-yakin. The judgment of Merodach-baladan 
was confirmed by the event ; for no sooner had he 
left the city than the priests and people of Babylon 
and Borsippa sent an embassy, headed by some of 
the leading men of the city, to invite Sargon to enter. 

The Assyrian king then entered Babylon in triumph, 
and set to work at once to repair the canal which ran 



122 HISTORY OK BABYLONIA. 

from Babylon to Borsippa, and to offer rich sacrifices 
to the gods of the country. During the advance of 
the army of Sargon, a tribe named the Hamaran, 
took advantage of the confusion to plunder. Throw- 
ing themselves into the city of Sippara, they issued 
from it from time to time to ravage the lands of 
the Babylonians. 

Sargon, as soon as he took possession of Babylon, 
sent a force against them, and besieged the city of 
Sippara, which he captured, making a severe example 
of the whole tribe. These operations concluded the 
campaign, and Sargon prepared to drive Merodach- 
baladan out of Chaldea. Next year, B.C. 709, in 
the month lyyar, the Assyrian monarch started from 
Babylon and marched towards Iqbi-Bel. 

Meanwhile, Merodach-baladan had retreated from 
Iqbi-Bel, carrying his gods with him, and entering the 
city of Dur-yakin, near the Euphrates, he called toge- 
ther the tribes who were still faithful to him, and the 
people of Ur, Erech, Eridu, Larsa, Zarilab, Kisik, and 
Nimit-laguda, the cities in the south, which still ac- 
knowledged his authority ; and massing a large army, 
placed Dur-yakin in a state of defence. With him 
were the remnants of the tribes which Sargon had 
conquered the Gambulai, .Pekod, Damun, Ruhua, 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 123 

and Hindaru and he set his people to work to dig a 
wide trench, 200 cubits wide (340 feet) and i-| gurs 
(30 feet) deep, round the city of Dur-yakin ; then 
opening a channel to the Euphrates, he flooded this 
ditch, and breaking down the bridges which he had 
built across it, prepared to resist a siege. Sargon 
passed his troops across the ditch, and attacked the 
Chaldeans, who were caught in a net, and defeated 
with great slaughter. The royal pavilion of Merodach- 
baladan, his couch of gold, throne of gold, chair of 
gold, sceptre of gold, chariot of silver, covered car- 
riage of gold, with his other goods, and all his camp, 
fell into the hands of the Assyrians, while the Chal- 
dean monarch, impelled by fear, fled into his citadel 
with the remnant of his forces. This battle had 
taken place in the space between the ditch and the 
city walls ; and Sargon now invested the city, which 
he soon after stormed and captured. Merodach- 
baladan now submitted, and laid down his sceptre 
before Sargon, who carried him into captivity, together 
with his wife, his children, and his treasures. 

Thus the whole of Babylonia fell into the hands of 
Sargon, who set to work to reverse the policy of Me- 
rodach-baladan. He expelled the military desert- 
tribes whom the Chaldean had settled in the Baby- 



124 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

Ionian cities, and everywhere made friends with the 
priesthood by restoring the rites and offerings of the 
various gods. Sargon also for some time held his 
court at Babylon ; and while here there came two 
embassies from opposite sides of the empire to ac- 
knowledge the power of the Assyrian monarch. One 
of these was from Uperi, king of Nituk or Dilmun, a 
state which is said to have lain thirty kaspu, or about 
210 miles, in the sea on the east, being reached 
through the Persian Gulf. Dilmun has not been iden- 
tified, and if it were not for the statement of distance, 
it would be likely to represent the region of the Indus, 
for it was not the name of a small, obscure place, but 
of a region known from remote times, and always 
spoken of as the eastern boundary on the sea, 1 

The second embassy came from the West, from the 
seven kings of Yaha, a district of Yatnan, a place said 
to be seven days' sail in the Mediterranean. This 
embassy is usually supposed to have come from 
Cyprus; but this island appears too close to the 
coast to require such a voyage. 

Sargon reigned at Babylon after his conquest of 
Merodach-baladan for five years, and died B.C. 705. 

1 Dilmun, or rather Dilvun, is probably the modern Bunder- 
Dellim. S. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 1 25 

During the reign of Sargon,some troubles took place 
from the leaning of the Chaldean tribes to the cause 
of Merodach-baladan. Partial revolts happened ; but 
these were easily repressed, and Sargon remained on 
the throne until his death. 

On the death of Sargon, his son Sennacherib be- 
came king of Assyria, on the i2th day of Ab, B.C. 
705 ; and it is supposed that a brother of the king 
was made ruler at Babylon. There is, however, as 
usual, considerable obscurity as to the history and 
succession here. It appears from the Chronicle of 
Eusebius, that after the death of the brother of Sen- 
nacherib the Babylonians raised to the throne Hagisa, 
or Akises ; and Merodach-baladan, escaping from the 
Assyrians, murdered the new ruler after a reign of 
one month, and again mounted the Babylonian throne, 
B.C. 704. This defection of Babylon called up Sen- 
nacherib, the new Assyrian monarch, and he assembled 
his army to march to Babylon. 

The Assyrians marched into the country, and 
crossed the Tigris in the direction of the capital, 
meeting little opposition on their way until they came 
to Kisu (Hymer), about nine miles east of Babylon, 
where Merodach-baladan had drawn up his forces. 
Here a battle took place, and the Babylonian forces 



126 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

were routed, the Chaldean monarch taking refuge in 
flight. It is probable that Babylon at this time was 
not prepared to stand a siege, and therefore Merodach- 
baladan at once hastened to the south to take refuge 
in the reeds and swamps which in all ages have formed 
the shelter of political refugees. Here in the district 
of Guzuman he hid himself safely from his foes, while 
the Assyrians searched the reeds and marshes in vain 
to find him. 

Immediately after the battle of Kisu. Sennacherib 
entered Babylon and plundered the palace, carrying 
away everything. A like fate awaited all the other 
cities within reach. According to one record, 89 
cities and 820 villages were destroyed, while an- 
other gives 76 cities and 420 villages. Among these few 
names remain ; but Sarrapanu and Larancha are men- 
tioned, and Erech (Warka), Nipur (Niffer), Kisu (Hy- 
mer), Harris-kalama l (near Hymer), and Cutha (Ibra- 
him) are given as seats of the Chaldeans. After the 
country within reach of the Assyrian army had been 
conquered and ravaged, Sennacherib set to work 
to reconstruct the government. With him he had 
a young man named Bel-ibni, son of a Babylonian 

1 Rather Kharsak-kalama, "the mountain of the world," so 
called from the name of its principal temple. S. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 127 

officer. He had grown up in the palace of the king 
of Assyria, and was now raised by Sennacherib to the 
throne of Babylonia, his appointment dating B.C. 703. 
It appears that a further campaign was necessary in 
this year to chastise the various nomad tribes wan- 
dering over the country. It is said that at the close 
of these operations 208,000 people, with multitudes 
of flocks and herds, were carried captive to Assyria. 
Nabu-bel-zakri, governor of Hararti, was the only ruler 
who voluntarily submitted ; and he, probably fearing 
a visit from the Assyrian army, sent rich presents to 
Sennacherib. The work of spoiling being finished, 
the Assyrian monarch rebuilt the city of Hirimmu, 
which he had destroyed, and appointed a tribute from 
it of one ox, ten sheep, ten homers of wine, and twenty 
homers of first-fruits, as an offering to the Assyrian 
gods. 

Sennacherib returned to Assyria in B.C. 703, leaving 
the government in the hands of Bel-ibni, and appoint- 
ing a force to watch for Merodach-baladan. The 
Chaldean prince, finding the Assyrian garrisons too 
strong for him, and despairing of regaining his Baby- 
lonian throne, called together his adherents, and col- 
lecting the images of his gods, resolved to lead a 
Chaldean colony to a new district on the Persian 



128 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

Gulf. Taking ship with his adherents, he abandoned 
the country where he had struggled for thirty years 
against the Assyrian power, and carried his people 
down the Persian Gulf to the district of Nagitu, on 
the Asiatic shore, within the territory of Elam. Here, 
an exile from his native land, Merodach-baladan 
died ; but he left several sons, destined to continue 
their father's work and continue his opposition to 
Assyria. After the departure of Merodach-baladan 
to Nagitu, another Chaldean chief arose, Suzub, son 
of Gahul, who collected a band of followers at the 
city of Bittut, in the marsh district near the mouth of 
the river Euphrates, and defied the power of the 
Assyrians. To punish him, Sennacherib organized a 
second expedition to Chaldea, in B.C. 700, and de- 
feated Suzub, who escaped and hid himself. Then 
turning to Bit-yakin, the district of Merodach-baladan, 
the Assyrian army ravaged the place, carrying captive 
those who had not emigrated with Merodach-bala- 
dan. The rule of Bel-ibni was probably unsatisfactory 
to Sennacherib, for the Assyrian monarch, at the close 
of the expedition, gave the government of the country 
to his own eldest son, Assur-nadin-sum, who com- 
menced his reign B.C. 700. The new Chaldean esta- 
blishment at Nagitu, on the Persian Gulf, was beyond 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. I 29 

the reach of the Assyrians, and independent of their 
influence, while it formed a fresh focus of Chaldean 
independence. Sennacherib, therefore, formed the 
design of subjugating this region ; and unable to reach 
it by land through the hostile country of Elam, he 
directed a fleet to be prepared, with a view to attack 
the emigrants from the sea. Two stations were formed, 
one at Nineveh, on the Tigris, the other at Tul-barsip 
(Biradjik), 1 on the Euphrates ; and Tyrian workmen 
were employed to build there large vessels fit for a 
sea voyage, and crews were selected of Tyrians, Zi- 
donians, and Greeks. The Tigris being in places 
shallow on account of the dams and rapids, the ves- 
sels built at Nineveh were floated empty down to the 
city of Upe (Opis), and there they were passed into a 
navigable canal, called the Arahtu or Araxes, and were 
drawn through this to the river Euphrates, in the Chal- 
dean region ; here the troops and stores were waiting, 
and the vessels were loaded. The fleet now dropped 
down the river to Bab-salimiti, on the right bank at 
the mouth of the Euphrates, where Sennacherib went 
on shore and pitched his camp. The troops had 

1 Tul-barsip is rather opposite Carchemish, the modern Jera- 
blus. It is the Barsampse of Ptolemy. Biradjik represents the 
" Birtu of the Arameans" of the Assyrian inscriptions. S. 
K 



130 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

been five days descending the river, until they reached 
the shore of the Persian Gulf at Bab-salimiti. At 
the place where the river issued into the sea, Senna- 
cherib made a great festival in honour of Hea, the 
presiding deity of the ocean. Images of fishes and 
vessels, made of gold, were carried out to sea and 
dropped with great ceremony into the ocean by the 
Assyrian monarch, while victims and libations were 
offered to Hea, the Assyrian Neptune. It being sup- 
posed that the gods were propitiated, the expedition 
sailed out to sea and made for the Persian coast, 
where the district of Nagitu was situated. Here they 
came to the mouth of the river Ulai, which formed 
the artery of Nagitu, and in the vicinity of which the 
cities colonized by the Chaldeans were situated. It 
is quite evident that since the time of Sennacherib 
considerable changes have taken place in the geo- 
graphy of this region ; the soil rapidly accumulates 
at the head of the Persian Gulf, and now the mouth 
of the Ulai no longer opens into the sea, but dis- 
charges itself into the Euphrates. 

On the arrival of the Assyrian fleet at the mouth of 
the Ulai, they found the Chaldeans gathered to re- 
ceive them. The colonists inhabited the cities of 
Nagitu and Nagitu-dihibin, and they called to their 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 131 

assistance the people of Hilmu, Bellatu, and Hupa- 
panu drawing up their forces on the flat fronting the 
Ulai. The Assyrian troops were disembarked, and 
attacked with fury the Chaldeans and their allies, 
routing them and pursuing them to their cities, which 
they captured and spoiled. The people were cap- 
tured in large numbers, and with their goods and 
cattle forced into the Assyrian ships and sent over to 
the city of Bab-salimiti to Sennacherib. 

While this expedition was away at the Persian Gulf, 
Suzub, who had escaped during the former war, raised 
a force in the rear of Sennacherib, and the king of 
Elam, who had hitherto only given secret help to the 
Babylonians, now marched his army to Babylon, and 
with them came numbers of the Chaldean emigrants 
returning to their country. The Elamite and Chaldean 
forces captured Babylon, and proclaimed Suzub king ; 
but reinforcements being sent to the Assyrian army, 
they turned and defeated the rebels, capturing Suzub, 
who was sent bound to Nineveh. 

At this time one of the parties fell upon the city of 
Erech, and plundered it, carrying away the images of 
the gods ; but the notice of this event is so ambigu- 
ous, that it is uncertain if it was the Assyrian or the 
Elamite army which plundered the temples. The 

K 2 



132 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

direct interference of the Elamites at Babylon during 
these operations, and their constant hostility to 
Assyria, now led to a war between the two countries. 
Sennacherib, in resolving to attack the Elamites, was 
also influenced by a desire to recover a small portion 
of Assyrian territory near Duran, which had been 
attacked and captured by the Elamites just before the 
close of the reign of Sargon. Here the Elamites had 
taken the two cities of Bit-hairi and Raza, and this 
loss had not been recovered. About B.C. 697, the 
Assyrian monarch set out with a large army to make 
war with Elam, and after recovering the lost district 
he went on to attack the Elamite cities, which he cap- 
tured and burned one after another. Thirty-four 
larger cities, and numerous smaller villages, were 
destroyed, and the Assyrian records relate that the 
smoke of these conflagrations rose like a cloud, and 
obscured the face of the heavens. 

During this destruction of his cities, Kudur-nan- 
hundi, the Elamite king, did not dare to meet Senna- 
cherib in the field ; but fearing for his own safely, 
he caused his people to retire into the other cities, 
and he himself left Madaktu, his capital, and fled 
into the mountains to Hidalu. Everything now 
seemed at the mercy of the Assyrian king, who was 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 133 

carrying fire and sword through the country, and 
sparing nothing in his progress. The sudden setting 
in of winter rendered the roads impassable, and by 
stopping the Assyrian monarch's intended march 
against the capital, Madaktu, put an end to this war 
of destruction, which had been carried on with a 
barbarity seldom seen even then. 

Brought to a halt by the snow and rain, Senna- 
cherib reluctantly turned and retraced his steps to 
Assyria ; but the Elamites did not easily forget his 
invasion ; within three months their king was dead, 
and they raised to the throne his brother Umman- 
minan, a man of a more energetic disposition. 

Meanwhile, Suzub had escaped from confinement, 
and meeting with numerous other fugitives, all elud- 
ing the Assyrian governors, he again raised a revolt, 
and took to the marshes for protection. Here he was 
pursued by the Assyrians, and so hunted, that he fled 
into Elam to Umman-minan, the king of that country. 
Elam at once became a centre for the Chaldean 
refugees ; and Suzub, collecting a number of these, 
came to Babylon, where the people again opened 
their gates to him, and by general consent the 
Assyrians were expelled from the country, and Suzub 
was once more raised to the throne. 



134 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

Aware of his inability to hold the throne alone, 
Suzub broke open the sacred treasures of Bel at 
Babylon, Nebo at Borsippa, and Nergal at Cutha, 
and sent the gold and silver as a present to Umman- 
minan, king of Elam, saying : " Gather thy army, 
collect thy camp, to Babylon come and strengthen 
our hands, for a master of war art thou." Umman- 
minan and his people were equally ready to make war 
with Assyria, and to avenge the ravages of the Assyrian 
army during Sennacherib's late campaign, and call- 
ing to his standard all the tribes subject to Elam, he 
took the road to Babylon. An immense host now 
gathered at this city, consisting of Elamites, Persians, 
people of Anzan, Pasiru, Ellipi, Yazan, Lagapri, Har- 
zunu, Dummuq, Sulai, Samuna, Adini, Amukkan, 
Silan, Sahala, Larancha, Lahiru, Pekod, Gambul, 
and other tribes. Umman-minan and Suzub marched 
out from Babylon, about B.C. 696, feeling strong 
enough to meet Sennacherib in the open field. They 
therefore posted their troops at Halule, on the Tigris, 
to check the Assyrian monarch before he overran the 
heart of the country. 

Sennacherib advanced to Halule eager to meet the 
rebels, and joined battle with them, utterly routing 
their troops. The chiefs of the Elamites and Baby- 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 135 

lonians had gone out to the battle richly adorned, 
with arms inlaid with gold, bracelets and rings of 
gold, riding in chariots plated with silver ; and most 
of these trappings fell into the hands of the Assy- 
rians. The Babylonian army gathered at Halule 
must have been very numerous, for the Assyrians 
count the slain at the incredible number of 150,000 
men. We are informed, however, that the pursuit 
and slaughter lasted for four hours after sunset. A 
multitude of prisoners and heaps of spoil remained 
with the victors, several of the chiefs, including 
Nabu-zakir-iskun a son of Merodach-Baladan, falling 
into the hands of Sennacherib. 

The disastrous battle of Halule closed for that year 
operations in Babylonia. There was a long march 
to Babylon; the season was probably late, and the 
Assyrian army crippled, and encumbered with spoil. 
These reasons probably determined the close of the 
campaign; but next year Sennacherib once more 
marched out, resolved this time to make an ex- 
ample of Babylon. This was about B.C. 695. Suzub 
and Umman-minan, after the battle of Halule, had 
escaped to their respective countries, and when Sen- 
nacherib again invaded Babylonia there was no at- 
tempt at opposition in the open field ; he advanced 



136 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

at once to Babylon, and appeared before the city, 
which was ill-prepared to resist him. The fortifica- 
tions were stormed and captured, and the whole city 
given up to spoil. Suzub, with part of his family, fell 
into the hands of Sennacherib, who sent them to As- 
syria j the treasures of the city were plundered by the 
soldiers, the images of the gods were brought out of 
the temples and broken up, the houses were pulled 
down and burned, the walls were levelled, the tem- 
ples overturned, and the towers thrown down; the 
city was levelled, as far as the fury of the Assyrian 
monarch could do it, and the great canal, called 
Araxes, was filled up with the ruins. 




HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 137 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE RULE OF THE ASSYRIANS. 

The successors of Assur-nadin-sum Nabu-zir-napisti-esir 
Babylon rebuilt by Esarhaddon Succeeded by his son Saul- 
mugina Wars with Elam Revolt of Babylonia Crushed 
by Assur-bani-pal Saul-mugina perishes in the flames of his 
palace Nabopolassar appointed governor He marries the- 
daughter of Cyaxares of Media The fall of Nineveh. 

VERY little is known of the history of Babylonia for 
some years after its destruction by Sennacherib. 
Suzub again escaped from captivity, and opposed 
Sennacherib; but he was ultimately killed by a fall 
from his horse. Assur-nadin-sum, son of Sennacherib, 
who had reigned whenever the Assyrians held Babylon, 
died B.C. 694, and, according to Ptolemy, was suc- 
ceeded by Rigebel; after whom came Mesesi-mar- 
dochus, B.C. 693 to 689. From this time, not even the 
names of the Babylonian rulers appear, and the city 
remained in obscurity until the reign of Esarhaddon. 



138 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

During this time, a son of Merodach-baladan, 
named Nabu-zir-napisti-esir, took possession of his 
father's original territory near the Persian Gulf; and 
after strengthening himself there, he aspired to the 
dominion of the whole of Babylonia. After the 
murder of Sennacherib his sons disputed the crown, 
and taking advantage of the confusion, the Chaldean 
prince, in B.C. 681, marched against the city of Ur 
(Mugheir), then governed by Ningal-idina, who was 
faithful to the Assyrian empire. Having failed to 
separate the governor of Ur from the interest of the 
Assyrians, he besieged the city, and when Esarhaddon, 
having gained a decisive victory over his brothers, was 
proclaimed king at Nineveh, Nabu-zir-napisti-esir disre- 
garded his accession, and continued his hostilities 
against Assyria. Esarhaddon, hearing of this, ordered 
the Assyrian generals who were stationed in Baby- 
lonia to march against him; and unable to meet 
their forces, the Chaldean prince fled into Elam, the 
old refuge of his father. The reign of Esarhaddon 
had opened with great promise, and he had assumed 
the crowns of both Assyria and Babylonia. The 
Elamites now appeared disinclined to quarrel with 
him, and did not take up the cause of the son of their 
old ally, Merodach-baladan. Nabu-zir-napisti-esir 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 139 

thus found Elam an insecure refuge, and soon after 
his arrival there was treacherously murdered. His 
brother, Nahid-Maruduk, who had followed his for- 
tunes and shared his flight to Elam, when he saw 
the death of Nabu-zir-napisti-esir, alarmed for his 
own safety, fled out of the country, and threw himself 
upon the mercy of Esarhaddon. The Assyrian mo- 
narch received him favourably, accepting his homage, 
and appointing him to the government of the district 
of the sea-coast, which his brother had forfeited by 
rebellion. 

As soon as he had settled his affairs in Assyria, 
Esarhaddon came in person to Babylon (January, 
B.C. 680), and set to work to restore the city, which 
had been ruined by the late wars. He rebuilt the 
great temples and towers, restored the fortifications, 
and brought back the captive images of the gods. 
Under the fostering care of Esarhaddon, Babylon 
soon again became a great city, and the rival of Nine- 
veh. During the depression of Babylon, in the latter 
part of the reign of Sennacherib, the chief of the 
Chaldean tribe of Dakkuri, whose home was on the 
edge of the desert west of Babylon, had encroached 
upon the grounds of the people of Babylon and Bor- 
sippa. These people Esarhaddon checked, and put 



140 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

a stop to their inroads. He seized Samas-ibni, their 
king, and burned him, as a punishment, and set up 
in his place a chief named Nabu-usallim. Soon after 
this the new chief sent an urgent despatch to Esar- 
haddon, because the marsh tribes had gathered in 
Bit-amukkan, and endeavoured to renew the depre- 
dations which had been carried on in the time of 
Samas-ibni. He prays the king to send to Sadu, 
governor of Amukkan, and check these raids. Sub- 
sequently Esarhaddon was informed that Nabu-usal- 
lim, whom he had raised to office, was endeavouring to 
purchase horses; and the governor of Babylon, for 
Esarhaddon, stated that the governor of the Dakkuri 
desired to raise a force to attack the Assyrian army, 
and renew the raids of Samas-ibni, in consequence of 
which he, as viceroy of the king of Assyria, forbade 
the sales in the name of Esarhaddon. 

In the same letter the governor of Babylon informs 
Esarhaddon of the arrival of Bel-basa, son of Bunanu, 
at Babylon and Borsippa, from which cities he went 
to the land of the tribe of Dakkuri. Bel-basa was 
chief of the tribe of Gambul, which lived in the 
marshes by the Tigris, close to the Elamite frontier. 
He was induced to submit to Esarhaddon ; and in 
consideration of his alliance, Esarhaddon assisted 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 14! 

him to build the city of Sapi-Bel, in the marshes, 
which he was to hold for Esarhaddon as a frontier 
fortress against the Elamites. 

Some time later, Umman-aldas being on the throne 
of Elam, his two brothers, Urtaki and Te-umman, 
proposed to him that he should break the peace with 
Esarhaddon, and make an expedition into Chaldea 
against the king of Assyria. This he refused to do, and 
they then murdered him, setting up in his place 
Urtaki, his next brother. The new king was wiser on 
his accession than to follow his own former council, 
and made friendly advances to Esarhaddon. Te- 
umman, the youngest brother, who appears to have 
been a determined foe of Assyria, was not satisfied 
with this policy, and sent an agent of his own, named 
Zineni, into Chaldea, to endeavour to raise a revolt 
in favour of Nabu-diim, a son of the late Chaldean 
ruler. The people were, however, satisfied with their 
government, and returned answer that Nahid-Maruduk 
was their lord, and that they were subjects of the king 
of Assyria. Esarhaddon continued to reign in peace 
over Babylon for thirteen years, his rule being only 
diversified by these small intrigues and domestic 
events; and on his death in B.C. 668, he left the 
government of Babylon to his younger son, Saul- 



142 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

mugina, the elder son, Assur-bani-pal, being already 
installed as king of Assyria. 1 

Peace continued in Babylonia under the rule of 
Saul-mugina, who answers to the Saosduchinos of 
Ptolemy and the Sammughes of Polyhistor. 

This general quiet was, however, broken after about 
ten years, by Urtaki, king of Elam. He had been on 
good terms with Esarhaddon, and afterwards with his 
sons ; but suddenly changing his policy, he persuaded 
Bel-basa, king of the Gambulai, and some other local 
chiefs, to join him in hostility against Assur-bani-pal 
and Saul-mugina. Urtaki then, with these chiefs in 
his train, made an irruption into Babylonia, and 
spreading his troops over the country, gave it up to 
plunder. Saul-mugina, who was in Babylon, was 
alarmed at this inroad, and sent at once to ask the 
aid of his brother Assur-bani-pal, king of Assyria. At 
this time, 'although Saul-mugina was king of Babylon, 
he was tributary and subject to his elder brother, 



1 It was while Esarhaddon was holding his court at Babylon 
that Manasseh of Judah was brought there captive, according to 
2 Chronicles xxxiii. n. The character and rule of Esarhaddon 
seem to have been mild, and the release of Manasseh from cap- 
tivity is paralleled by other similar acts of clemency upon his 
part S. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 143 

Babylon being dependent upon Nineveh. Assur- 
bani-pal himself appointed the provincial governors in 
Babylonia. He had his own garrisons and com- 
manders, and his generals reported to himself instead 
of to his brother. Besides this, he repaired the Baby- 
lonian temples, and made offerings at the various 
shrines in his own name, thus having the priesthood 
immediately connected with himself. The active 
control of affairs being thus in the hands of the king 
of Assyria, Assur-bani-pal responded to the appeal of 
his brother, and after sending an officer to report to 
himself on the Elamite raid, he suddenly moved a 
force into Babylonia, and, coming up with Urtaki 
before he could retreat into Elam with his spoil, 
inflicted upon him a defeat and drove him across the 
border. 

This war led to a succession of contests with Elam, 
which belong rather to the history of Assyria than to 
that of Babylonia. The result of these expeditions 
was, that Assur-bani-pal conquered Elam, and set 
upon the throne of that country Umman-igas, a son 
of Urtaki, who engaged to pay tribute to Assyria. 

The Elamites, who were a brave, warlike race, were 
restless under the yoke of Assyria ; and Saul-mugina, 
king of Babylon, was also tired of his subordinate 



144 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

position. General disaffection spread over Chal- 
dea, Arabia, Syria, and Palestine; while Psammeti- 
chus, king of Egypt, had revolted, and, expelling the 
Assyrians from that country, in alliance with Gyges, 
king of Lydia, made war against Assur-bani-pal. The 
moment seemed propitious for a general revolt, and the 
Assyrian monarch, foreseeing that trouble was coming, 
issued a proclamation to the Babylonians, dated on 
the 23rd day of the month lyyar, in the eponymy of 
Assur-dur-uzur about B.C. 650. In this document 
he reminds them of the benefits he had given them, 
and of the close brotherhood between Assyria and 
Babylonia. 

Saul-mugina at that time meditated a revolt ; but 
to mask his proceedings he sent an embassy to 
Nineveh, to assure his brother of his fidelity, and to 
deceive the Assyrian monarch until his preparations 
were completed. The first object of the Babylonian 
monarch was to seek allies, and his attentio_n was 
naturally turned to Elam. Saul-mugina, following the 
example of several former rulers, broke open the 
treasuries of Bel at Babylon, Nebo at Borsippa, and 
Nergal at Cutha, and sent the gold and silver as a 
present to Umman-igas, king of Elam, in payment for 
his assistance ; and the two monarchs made an agree- 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 145 

nient to make war against Assur-bani-pal. In Chaldea 
they were supported by Nabu-bel-zikri, the grandson 
of Merodach-Baladan, who ruled the sea-coast, by 
Sin-tabni-uzur, son of Ningal-idina, governor of Ur, 
by Mannu-ki-babili of Dakkuri, by Hea-mubasa of 
Amukkan, by Nadan of Pekod, and by various subor- 
dinate chiefs. Vahta, king of Arabia, hearing that the 
Babylonians and Elamites were bent on revolt, sent and 
made alliance with them, hoping, if the revolt were 
successful, to gain possession of Palestine and Syria 
for himself. Vahta raised two forces, one of which 
he led into Palestine and marched through Edom, 
Moab, the Hauran, and Hamath, where his progress 
was stopped by the Assyrian generals, who defeated 
him and drove him back to his own country. The 
other force he placed under the control of two chiefs, 
Aimu and Abiyateh, and sent them to Babylon to 
draw off the attention of the Assyrians by assisting 
Saul-mugina at Babylon. Assur-bani-pal, who had re- 
ceived the embassy from his brother with great honour 
and ceremony, and had feasted them in Nineveh, was 
suddenly awakened by the breaking out of the revolt ; 
Elam, Babylonia, and Arabia in concert throwing oft 
the Assyrian yoke. 

The king of Elam marched his army into Babylonia, 
L 



146 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

and the Arabians joined the confederates at Babylon. 
The combined forces then attacked the Assyrian gar- 
risons, and everywhere expelled the officers of Assur- 
bani-pal. Saul-mugina chose four cities for military 
centres: Sippara, Babylon, Borsippa, and Cutha. 
These he fortified, and prepared to resist a siege, as 
his brother was gathering a force to reconquer the 
country. 

Before, however, the Assyrians reached the scene, 
divisions appeared among the insurgents. As soon as 
Umman-igas, king of Elam, had sent his army to 
Babylon, his son Tammaritu made a conspiracy 
against him, and, raising a force, defeated the royal 
troops. Capturing his father in the battle, he cut off 
his head, and sent it to Assur-bani-pal. After this, 
Tammaritu, who had assumed the crown of Elam, 
was induced by the Babylonians to assist them, and 
he marched into their country with his army. 

Assur-bani-pal was now advancing, and his forces, 
under the leadership of a general named Bel-ibni, 
defeated the confederates, and, overrunning the open 
country, shut them up in the four cities, Babylon, 
Borsippa, Cutha, and Sippara. When Tammaritu 
had gone to Babylonia, Inda-bigas, one of his ser- 
vants, set up as king in Elam, and, the people going 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 147 

over to his side, Tammaritu found himself cut off 
from his own country. Tammaritu, with the Assyrian 
army on one side, and Inda-bigas on the other, was 
in a great strait, and taking flight with some of his 
friends, he found his way to the sea-coast, where he 
took ship and tried to escape. The vessel in which 
Tammaritu sailed was, however, soon afterwards 
caught in a storm and driven back on the coast, and 
Tammaritu, being ill, was carried on shore, where he 
took refuge in the marshes ; but on receiving a promise 
of protection from Assur-bani-pal, he surrendered to 
the Assyrians. 

Meanwhile the Assyrian generals were crushing the 
Babylonian revolt ; the strongholds successively fell, 
and Babylon, the last hope of the rebels, was closely 
besieged. Famine and pestilence, the fruits of war, 
were desolating the country, while the Assyrians were 
completing its ruin. 

In the year B.C. 648 Babylon fell, and Saul-mugina, 
finding that the city was captured, set fire to his palace, 
and perished in the flames. After the fall of Babylon, 
the Assyrians proceeded to punish the smaller chiefs 
who had aided in the revolt; but one of the most 
active of these, Nabu-bel-zikri, a grandson of Mero- 
dach-Baladan, who ruled the region of the sea-coast, 
L 2 



148 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

escaped from the officers of Assur-bani-pal, and fled to 
Elam, to the court of Inda-bigas. Inda-bigas, finding 
the Babylonian revolt had failed, desired to make his 
peace with Assur-bani-pal, and sent an embassy to 
Assyria to propitiate the Ninevite monarch. Assur- 
bani-pal met the envoy with a demand for the surrender 
of Nabu-bel-zikri, the grandson of Merodach-Baladan, 
then a refugee at the court of Inda-bigas, and threat- 
ened to invade Elam, and waste it with fire and 
sword if this demand was not complied with. Before 
the return of the messenger with this message, Inda- 
bigas was dead. Umman-aldas, an Elamite com- 
mander, had revolted against him, and killed him and 
his family, in his turn ascending the Elamite throne. 

Assur-bani-pal now sent an embassy to the new 
monarch, to demand the surrender of the Chaldean 
prince, and Umman-aldas received the envoys of the 
Assyrian monarch. 

Nabu-bel-zikri, now fearing that he should be de- 
livered up by the king of Elam to Assur-bani-pal, called 
on his armour-bearer to despatch him, and the two 
ran each other through with their swords. Umman- 
aldas took the body of Nabu-bel-zikri and the head of 
his armour-bearer and delivered them to the messen- 
gers of Assur-bani-pal, who carried them to Assyria. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 149 

The death of Nabu-bel-zikri extinguished the family 
of Merodach-Baladan, and put an end to the trouble 
and danger to Assyria arising from their constant 
efforts to shake off the Ninevite yoke. 

Babylonia now enjoyed a quiet of some years under 
the reign of Assur-bani-pal ; but the condition of the 
country at this time is uncertain. It is supposed that 
trouble arose on the death of Assur-bani-pal, B.C. 626, 
and that a claimant named Bel-zakir-iskun set him- 
self up as king. It is certain that at this time there 
was a revolt of some sort, and the Assyrian monarch 
sent a general named Nabu-pal-uzur (Nabopolassar) 
to subdue it. Nabopolassar, after reconquering the 
country, was rewarded by the Assyrian monarch with 
the crown of Babylonia. Nabopolassar was a man of 
genius and ambition, and while Assyria, nominally 
the governing state, was fast decaying, raised Baby- 
lonia to a high pitch of power and prosperity. The fall 
of Assyria was now imminent. The upper provinces 
had all been ravaged by the Scythians, and a new and 
powerful state had arisen on the east of the empire 
in Media, now ruled by Cyaxares ; while Babylonia 
was being reorganized under Nabopolassar and the 
Egyptians were laying siege to Ashdod in the west 
Cyaxares having determined on the conquest of 



1^0 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

Assyria, Nabopolassar sent and offered to make an 
alliance with him for this purpose, the treaty to be 
cemented by the marriage of Amuhia or Amytis, the 
daughter of Cyaxares, 1 with Nabu-kudur-uzur or Nebu- 
chadnezzar, son of Nabopolassar. This treaty pro- 
bably included also the king of Egypt, for he assisted 
in the war against Assyria, marching up through 
Palestine to Carchemish on the Euphrates, which he 
captured. 

The account of the siege and fall of Nineveh, and 

1 It is very probable that some mutilated tablets discovered 
by Mr. Smith refer to Cyaxares and the closing days of the 
Assyrian monarchy. The writing upon them is extremely bad* 
and they seem to be rough copies hastily executed, and never 
carefully copied out again. The name of the Assyrian king for 
whom they were written is Esar-haddon, which may be com- 
pared with the name Saracus, assigned to the last monarch of 
Nineveh by classical writers. We learn from them that Kaztariti 
king of the Kar-kassi (" the fortress of the Kassi," perhaps), had 
allied himself with Mamitarsu, the chief of the Medes, the 
Kimmerians, the Minnians of Lake Van, and the people of 
Saparda (the Sepharad of Obad. 20), on the Black Sea, and 
invaded Assyria. Many of the Assyrian cities were taken, and 
the King of Nineveh ordered a fast of one hundred days and 
nights to the gods, in order to avert the danger with which the 
empire was threatened. It was at this crisis, when the enemy 
was hourly expected to attack Nineveh itself, that the tablets 
were composed. S. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 151 

the extinction of the Assyrian empire, will be found 
in the "History of Assyria," pp. 189-191. No trust- 
worthy history of this period from any ancient source 
is known, and one difficulty in the case is, to know 
how to choose between what is probable and what is 
unlikely in the various notices which have come down 
to us. 




152 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE EMPIRE OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 

Rise of the Babylonian Empire Egypt and Media Nebuchad- 
nezzar, his conquests and buildings Destruction of Jerusalem 
Invasion of Egypt Siege of Tyre The kingdom of Lydia 
Babylon adorned Character of Nebuchadnezzar Evil- 
Merodach, his murder Nergalsharezer. 

AFTER the fall of Assyria, a natural division of the 
territories of the departed empire was made. The 
Median provinces and the north of Assyria as far as 
Cilicia, fell to Cyaxares of Media; the south of 
Assyria and part of Arabia fell to Babylon, the 
western boundary of Nabopolassar being the Upper 
Euphrates. All west of Carchemish and south of 
Cilicia was joined to Egypt. 

It was evident that the division was only pro- 
visional, and could only last until the three powers 
could determine in conflict their relative strength ; 
and accordingly, after about three years, the whole 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. I -7 

*/ \f 

arrangement was overturned by the action of Nabo- 
polassar, king of Babylon. 

The overthrow of the Assyrian empire marks a 
great epoch in the history of the world ; it is the in- 
dication of a coming change, which swept away the 
old despotism and base idolatry of Western Asia, and 
brought in the era of a purer and nobler faith. The 
king of Babylon and Pharaoh of Egypt assisted in 
the work of dismembering the expiring empire ; but 
events they little foresaw were ripening, and they 
were really exchanging for their countries the fami- 
liar yoke of Assyria for another and sterner rule, 
under which their political existence would be 
crushed. 

The great event of this age is the rise of the Medo- 
Persian power, which showed a remarkable superiority 
to the empires which preceded it, by a superior system 
of government, and better military discipline. Its 
dominion, within a century, extended to the east and 
west far beyond the greatest limits ever reached by 
former powers. The complete triumph of the Aryans 
was, however, delayed by the rise of the reviving 
Babylonian empire. The brilliant genius of Nabo- 
polassar and his son Nebuchadnezzar made Babylon 
for the time the centre of the political world. This 



154 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

impetus, due to individual ability, quickly failed, and 
only left Babylonia a richer and more tempting prize 
for the rising power of Persia. The fall of Nineveh 
and sudden extinction of the Assyrian power was fol- 
lowed by a pause in the events then so rapidly hurry- 
ing along. Although the hammer of the earth was 
broken, it seemed for the moment as if there was no 
state able to take the mantle of the departed empire. 
The smaller states were now independent, while on 
the ruins of the Assyrian monarchy stood three 
powers, apparently equally balanced and equally re- 
luctant to disturb their neighbours. 

Egypt on the west was now a great state. Its king 
held court in Northern Syria, and its soldiers en- 
camped by the banks of the river Euphrates. All 
the country west of this great natural boundary 
acknowledged the sway of Pharaoh Necho, the extent 
of whose empire rivalled the dominions of Egypt in 
her most palmy days, under the great Thothmes and 
Rameses of the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties. 

On the south, Babylonia had attained a power 
which she had not possessed for several centuries : 
the south of Assyria and the region of the Khabur 
were added to her empire, and whatever culture and 
advancement Assyria had possessed had at once gra- 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 155 

vitated towards Babylon. On the north and east 
Media had risen within a few years from a condition 
of division and lawlessness to a compact and powerful 
monarchy; and the empire of Cyaxares, king of Media, 
extended from the river Halys, in Asia Minor, to the 
east of Persia. 

There was a mutual agreement between the three 
powers, and the marriage of the son of the king of 
Babylon with the daughter of the king of Media assured 
the peace between these states ; besides which, all 
had so recently acquired their possessions that much 
organization was necessary before any further exten- 
sion of them could be made. 

It seems that the first power to recover was Baby- 
lon. Nabopolassar was active from the first, and 
organized his new possessions so as to be quickly 
ready for war ; and then, as generally happens, a pre- 
text for hostilities was soon found by one who was 
looking out for it. 

Some discussion arose with Necho, king of Egypt, 
probably about the rights or boundaries of the Egyp- 
tians and Babylonians, and in B.C. 605 war was de- 
clared between the two powers. Nabopolassar was now 
too old and infirm for active operations in the field ; 
and being anxious to prosecute the war with vigour, 



156 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

placed his troops under command of his eldest son, 
Nebuchadnezzar, a young man of great promise. The 
Egyptian army meanwhile lay idly at Carchemish, on 
the Upper Euphrates, Necho not having the judg- 
ment to prepare against his young antagonist. 

Nebuchadnezzar advanced to Carchemish, and 
attacked and routed the Egyptian army there, gaining 
by this movement the control of all Syria. The Egyp- 
tians appear to have had no reserves, and the Baby- 
lonians marched through Syria and Palestine unop- 
posed, receiving the submission in turn of all the 
petty princes as far as the borders of Egypt. 

Among these tributaries was Jehoiakim king of 
Judah, who had been set on the throne by Necho, 
but who was now forced to submit to the Babylonian 
yoke. 

While Nebuchadnezzar was absent in Syria his 
father, Nabopolassar, died, and Nebuchadnezzar 
hastened back to Babylon to assume the govern- 
ment. The Babylonian army now returned laden 
with the spoils of the west and the tribute of Syria, 
and Babylon assumed the position of metropolis of 
the world. 

Soon after Nebuchadnezzar had returned to Babylon, 
about B.C. 602, Palestine revolted, the rising being 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 157 

most probably prompted by the Egyptians. Nebuchad- 
nezzar was at the time engaged in other works, and 
unable to attend to these affairs until B.C. 598, 
when he once more swept down upon Palestine, at- 
tacking Tyre on the way, and marched into Judah. At 
this time Jehoiakim, king of Judah, died, and was 
succeeded by his son Jehoiachin, who was scarcely 
seated on his father's throne when Nebuchadnezzar 
deposed him, and raised his uncle, Zedekiah, to the 
kingdom. Nebuchadnezzar desired a ruler in Judah 
who should owe his throne to Babylon, and be free 
from Egyptian influence, and he caused Zedekiah to 
swear by Jehovah to be faithful to himself. Jehoia- 
chin, the late king, who was a mere youth, together with 
numerous other captives, he carried with him to Baby- 
lon. The new Jewish ruler, Zedekiah, did no better 
than his late brother, and encouraged by the Egyp- 
tians, the kings of Tyre and Zidon, Edom, Moab and 
Ammon sent embassies to Jerusalem about B.C. 593, 
to concert plans for making a Palestinian confederacy 
under the leadership of Egypt to revolt against 
Babylon. They appear to have taken advantage of a 
good opportunity, Nebuchadnezzar being engaged on 
his eastern frontier. The Elamites, once a powerful 
nation, had been crushed by the Assyrians in the 



158 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

reign of Assur-bani-pal, but after the defeat of the 
Assyrians by the Medes and Babylonians they had 
revived, and regained considerable strength. Of the 
circumstances which brought them into contact with 
the Babylonians we are ignorant, and we know nothing 
of the history of the war; the final result of the 
struggle was, however, to extinguish once more the 
independence of Elam, the country being now annexed 
to Babylonia. 

Soon after this, Nebuchadnezzar, B.C. 589, moved 
into Syria, and taking up his head-quarters at Riblah, in 
the land of Hamath, directed his troops against 
Palestine. Nebuzaradan, 1 his general, laid siege to 
Jerusalem, the centre of the revolt, where the Jews 
within the city were divided into two parties, one for 
submission to the Chaldeans, the other for resistance. 
At this time Apries or Hophra was king of Egypt ; he 
had entered with spirit into the Palestinian league, 
and with his fleet had occupied some parts of the 
Phoenician coast ; on the advance of Nebuchadnezzar 
he assembled his army, and marched against Jerusalem 
to endeavour to raise the siege of the city. In this 
effort he was unsuccessful, though at first the Chaldean 

1 In Assyrian Nabu-zira-iddina "Nebo gave a seed." S. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 159 

general alarmed by the advance of the Egyptians, 
retired from the siege. Whether the latter engaged 
the army of Pharoah we do not know, but certainly 
he forced the Egyptians to abandon their enterprise, 
and leave Jerusalem to its fate. On his return accord- 
ingly Nebuzaradan pressed the siege with vigour, and 
in B.C. 587, Jerusalem fell. The Chaldean army 
marched in and destroyed the city, burning the 
Temple, and carrying away its sacred vessels and trea- 
sures. Zedekiah attempted to save himself by flight, 
but was captured, and carried before Nebuchadnezzar, 
who put his sons to death before his face, and then 
put out his eyes. 

Besides Jerusalem several other cities of Judah were 
plundered and destroyed, and the people carried into 
captivity. 

The surrounding nations of Palestine which had 
joined in the revolt were punished in their turn, and 
in B.C. 586 the Babylonian monarch laid siege to 
Tyre. Tyre at this time was the central city of 
Mediterranean commerce, and having possession of a 
powerful fleet, and a position on the sea coast, it was 
in an excellent condition for resisting a blockade by 
land. For thirteen years the army of Nebuchadnezzar 
sat round its walls, and even when the city was taken 



l6o HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

(B.C. 573) the conqueror gained very little to reward 
his toil. 1 

Meanwhile events were happening elsewhere to call 
off the attention of the Babylonian monarch. 

Nebuchadnezzar had wedded the daughter of the 
king of Media, and this alliance insured the peace 
between these two nations. The warlike Median 
monarch did not interfere with the conquests of his 
great son-in-law, but he, at the same time, sought an 
empire outside the circle of the Babylonian conquests. 
On the east of Media, in Armenia, and the eastern 
part of Asia Minor, the Median empire was extended, 
and its western border now touched the dominions 
of the rising Lydian kingdom. Since the time of 
Gyges Lydia had enjoyed great prosperity, and its 
territory now embraced a considerable portion of Asia 
Minor. A dispute arose between Lydia and Media 
on account of some fugitives, who fled from the court 
of Cyaxares, king of Media, and took refuge with 
Alyattes, king of Lydia. In B.C. 590 war broke out 
between the two powers in consequence of the Lydians 
refusing to deliver up the fugitives. 

This war is said to have lasted five years, with no 

1 It is by no means clear that Nebuchadnezzar did take Tyre. 
So judicious a historian as Mr. Grote thinks not. S. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. l6l 

permanent advantage on either side, when, in B.C. 
585, while the Lydians and Medes were engaged in 
battle there happened an eclipse of the sun, and both 
armies taking this as an omen, the opportunity was 
seized by the king of Cilicia and Nebuchadnezzar to 
press a peace upon the combatants. 1 

Meanwhile affairs in Palestine were still unsettled. 
The Jews had revolted, and murdered Gedaliah, the 
governor set over them by Nebuchadnezzar, and then 
many of the people had sought an asylum in Egypt, 
hoping there to be beyond the vengeance of the 
Chaldeans. The tribes around Palestine were also 
disaffected, and Tyre still held out, the length of the 
siege giving some hopes to the enemies of Babylonia 
in this direction. A new Chaldean force was sent into 
Palestine B.C. 582, Judah being again ravaged, and 
the last of its captives sent to Babylon. It was pro- 
bably about this time that Nebuchadnezzar punished 
the tribes on the borders of the desert east of Pales- 
tine, and sent an army which penetrated far into 
Arabia, and nominally added a considerable part of 
that difficult country to the Babylonian empire. 

It is probable that the command of the Mediter- 

1 According to Mr. Hind, this eclipse would have taken place 
May 28th, B.C. 584. 

M 



1 62 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

ranean, then in the hands of the Tyrian fleet, 
enabled them to remove the bulk of their wealth 
before the fall of the city. Within the reach of the 
Babylonian sovereign there still remained Egypt, 
which had fomented and encouraged every successive 
rebellion in Palestine. In B.C. 572 Nebuchadnezzar 
marched in person into that country, and defeating 
the army of Hophra, overran Egypt, and plundered it 
of all its wealth. Hophra fell into his hands, and was 
deposed, a general named Ahmes or Amasis being 
acknowledged as king of Egypt in his stead, the new 
monarch being installed as a vassal of Babylonia. 

The conquest of Egypt probably closed the era of 
the foreign wars of Nebuchadnezzar : these contests 
had lasted at least thirty-three years, and had extended 
from the confines of Persia in the east to Libya in 
the west, and from Cilicia in the north to Arabia in 
the south. The boundaries of the Babylonian king- 
dom at this time comprised, so far as we know, Elam 
or Khuzistan on the east, and parts north of this, 
including Zimri and the region as far as the Zagros 
mountains, taking in all the best part of Assyria, and 
probably all the region south of the Mardin mountains, 
across to Cilicia, where the boundary touched the 
Mediterranean. All Syria, as far as the Mediterranean, 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 163 

was included, and Egypt, with part of Libya, on the 
west. It is uncertain if Cyprus owned the sway of 
Nebuchadnezzar, and nothing is known of most of the 
states of Asia Minor. On the south the empire was 
bordered by the Libyan desert, the cataracts of the 
Nile, and an uncertain line running through Arabia. 
The Persian Gulf was under Babylonian control, both 
shores being subject to Nebuchadnezzar, and a con- 
siderable commerce was carried on from it to India. 

The rapidity with which this empire had been ac- 
quired shows the genius of Nabopolassar and his son 
Nebuchadnezzar. Only forty years before, Babylonia 
had been subject to Assyria, and within that space 
the Babylonians had, in conjunction with the Medes, 
crushed the power of Assyria, conquered its depen- 
dencies, broken the power of the monarchy raised by 
Psammetichus in Egypt, overrun Arabia, and annexed 
Elam. 

The fame of Nebuchadnezzar rests, however, more 
on his buildings than his conquests. Short outlines 
and notes in the Bible, and various ancient authors, 
are all that remain of the political events of his reign, 
and it is at present impossible to fill in the details of 
his various campaigns ; but he himself has left us in 
his inscriptions minute and remarkable accounts of 
M 2 



164 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

his various architectural works. These show precisely 
the spirit mentioned in the book of Daniel. All his 
labour and all his glory, were to make Babylon the 
grandest city of the world ; nothing was spared that 
absolute power could dictate and that wealth or genius 
could supply, and under Nebuchadnezzar Babylon 
became the glory and wonder of the world. 

The great temple of Babylon, called Saggal, which 
was dedicated to Merodach or Bel, 1 he rebuilt and 
richly adorned with gold, silver, and precious stones ; 
and here he once more reared the head of the ziggur- 
rat or tower called Temin-sami-irtsiti, "the foundation 
of heaven (and) earth." The sanctuary of Bel he roofed 
with cedar brought from the mountains of Lebanon, 
and overlaid with gold ; the temples of Birbir and 
Ziru, dedicated to Bel and Rubat, the temple of the 
Moon god, the temple of the Sun, the temple of Vul,the 
atmospheric god, the temple of the goddess Gula, the 
temple of Venus, and other buildings, he reconstructed 



1 Bel-Merodach was termed the younger Bel, to distinguish 
him from the elder Bel, one of the members of the trinity, Anu, 
Bel, and Hea. The older Bel was called Mul or Mul-ge, "the 
lord of the abyss " in Accadian, and presided over the earth and 
underground world. Bel, Assyrian Bilu, is the Hebrew Baal, 
"lord." S. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 165 

and beautified. He raised the celebrated hanging 
gardens, which consisted of arched terraces covered 
with earth, in which grew all manner of trees and 
flowers. He rebuilt the great walls of Babylon called 
Imgur-Bel and Nimit-Bel, and he completed the mag- 
nificent palace partly built by his father. 

In Borsippa, which lay to the west of Babylon, on 
the other side of the Euphrates, he rebuilt the temple 
of Nebo and some smaller shrines. Here was a cele- 
brated temple, probably standing on the site of the 
traditional tower of Babel. This temple was raised in 
the form of a truncated pyramid or ziggurrat, but only 
42 cubits (70 feet) had been built, and the structure 
being left unfinished had fallen into ruin. Nebuchad- 
nezzar rebuilt it in the form of a temple of seven stages, 
each stage being dedicated to one of the planetary 
bodies. 

At all the various cities of Babylonia he rebuilt the 
principal temples, but nowhere did he lavish such 
magnificence as at Babylon. Looking down on this 
proud city, which he had made the mistress of the 
world, we can well conceive the monarch saying, " Is 
not this great Babylon that I have built for the house 
of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for 
the honour of my majesty ? " 



1 66 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

In the court, and among the upper classes, there 
was at this time a luxury equal to the magnificence of 
the buildings. Lebanon furnished its cedars, Tyre its 
goods and manufactures, Helbon, the Shuite district, 
the north of Assyria and Syria, furnished various wines, 
which flowed on the royal and priestly tables like 
rivers ; cattle, animals of all sorts, strange birds, and 
fish, some presents from distant lands, others the 
plunder of conquered and oppressed nations, filled 
the fields and waters of Babylon ; and the noblest 
youths of conquered peoples served in the presence of 
the king and courtiers. 

The last ten years of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar 
appear to have been spent in peace, surrounded by 
all this pomp and luxury. During this period, ac- 
cording to the book of Daniel, the king suffered for a 
time under a form of madness, conceiving himself to 
be a beast of the field. No inscription or notice in 
confirmation of this has yet been discovered ; but it 
must be remembered that our knowledge of the whole 
of the reign is very scanty. 

So far as we can trace the character of Nebuchad- 
nezzar, he appears to have been a sovereign of great 
ability, a good general, bold in design, and resolute in 
action. The long wars he waged over most of the 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 167 

then known world, his defeat of the Egyptians at 
Carchemish at the outset of his career, and his long 
and determined blockade of Tyre, show his military 
character ; but, like most Oriental sovereigns, his acts 
were stained with cruelty. As a builder, Nebuchad- 
nezzar stands in the first rank, and he was a great 
patron of arts and sciences. His system of govern- 
ment was the usual Eastern one of draining and 
oppressing conquered countries and subject provinces 
to increase the glory and magnificence of his capital. 
In religion Nebuchadnezzar was, like most rulers, 
faithful to the orthodoxy of his day. Merodach or Bel 
and Nebo were his great divinities, and after them 
came a train of lesser gods, who each shared the 
devotion and gifts of the sovereign. His gods are 
said to inspire his heart ; he acknowledges that his life 
and success were from them, and he raises at their 
holy seats prayer and thanksgiving to them. 

Such was Nebuchadnezzar, the greatest of the Baby- 
lonian sovereigns. He reigned over Western Asia 
from his campaign against Carchemish, in B.C. 605, 
until his death, B.C. 562. On the death of Nebuchad- 
nezzar his crown descended to his son Amil-Mar- 
uduk, the Evil-Merodach of the Bible, called by the 
Greeks Ilouarodam. 



1 68 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

Evil-Merodach appears, so far as we can judge, to 
have been a pacific sovereign ; but the ancient authors 
who mention him condemn his government. Nebu- 
chadnezzar had taken captive Jehoiachin, king of 
Judah, and kept him in prison at Babylon. Evil-Mero- 
dach, however, released the captive when he came to 
the throne, and seated him in honour at Babylon. 
It is probable that in other respects Evil-Merodach 
reversed the policy of his father, and this led to 
discontent among the proud overbearing nobles of 
Babylon. In consequence of this a conspiracy was 
formed against him, led by his own brother-in-law 
Nergal-sar-uzur, the Nergalsharezer of the Bible, 
called Neri-glissor by the Greek writers, and Evil- 
Merodach was assassinated after a reign of two years, 
B.C. 560. 

On the murder of Evil-Merodach the conspirators 
raised to the throne Nergalsharezer, their leader. He 
was the son of Bel-zakir-iskun, who had ruled at 
Babylon during the troublous period towards the close 
of the Assyrian monarchy. It is unknown whether 
he was the same as the Bel-zakir-iskun who ruled in 
Assyria about the same time. Nergalsharezer had 
been appointed rubu emga (the Rabmag of the Bible), 
which appears to have been one of the highest titles 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 



169 



in the state, and he received in marriage a daughter 
of Nebuchadnezzar ; thus becoming closely connected 
with the throne. 

He accompanied the Babylonian army to Jerusalem, 
and is mentioned as sitting in the gate after the taking 
of the city. At the time of his accession to the 
throne he was advanced in years, and he only reigned 
a little more than three years, dying in B.C. 556. 
Nergalsharezer is only known to have repaired the 
river front of the Babylonian palace, and to have 
built a new palace for himself there. Like his pre- 
decessor, he engaged in no warlike expeditions, and 
the military strength of the Babylonian empire slowly 
declined. 




1 70 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE BABYLONIAN 
EMPIRE. 

Laborosoarchod Nabonidus Babylon fortified Astyages and 
Cyrus Cyrus besieges Babylon Babylon taken by the Per- 
sians The Darius of Daniel Return of the Jews from exile 
Cambyses and Smerdis Darius Hystaspes Revolt and 
capture of Babylon Second revolt of Babylon under Arahu 
Babylon taken Decline of Babylon. 

THE son and successor of Nergalsharezer was called 
by the Greeks Laborosoarchod, perhaps a corruption 
of the Babylonian name Ulbar-surki-idina. This 
prince had only reigned nine months when a new 
conspiracy was formed, and he was assassinated; a 
man named Nabu-imtuk, or Nabu-nahid, called by 
the Greeks Labynetus or Nabonidus, son of the 
rubu emga or rabmag Nabu-balatsu-iqbi, being raised 
to the throne B.C. 556. Nabonidus either was a de- 
scendant of Nebuchadnezzar on the female side, or 
married into the family to strengthen his right to the 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 17 1 

throne. In connection with him we find mentioned 
in Herodotus a queen named Nitocris, to whom some 
of the great works at Babylon are ascribed. 

During the reign of Nabonidus the inactivity abroad 
continued, while political events outside Babylonia 
were ripening for the destruction of that state. 

Nabonidus rebuilt and restored the various temples, 
and did all he could to propitiate the priesthood. 
Seeing that Babylonia, which had been so long inac- 
tive, would soon have to prepare to resist the Medes 
and Persians, Nabonidus repaired and increased the 
defences of the capital. Towards the close of his 
reign, Nabonidus associated with himself on the throne 
his eldest son Bel-sar-uzur, the Belshazzar of the book 
of Daniel. 1 About the year B.C. 540 an attack was 
made upon Babylon by the Medes and Persians, the 
immediate pretext of which is not known. 

Since the peace between Lydia and Media in B.C. 
585, a general cessation of hostilities had continued 

1 This is doubtful. Belshazzar (Bilu-sarra-utsur) is called the 
eldest son of Nabonidus in one of the latter's inscriptions ; but 
a dated tablet from Babylon mentions the third year of Mero- 
dach-sarra-utsur, and not Bel-sarra-utsur. However, Merodach 
was also addressed as Bel, and, according to the book of Daniel, 
Eelshazzar was in command in Babylon at the time of the cap- 
ture of that city by Cyrus. S. 



172 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

for some years in those countries. Cyaxares, king of 
Media, had died, and his son Astyages, who succeeded 
him, being a pacific prince, had not sought to emulate 
the great military expeditions of his father. 

Astyages had a daughter, whom he married to Cam- 
byses, king of Persia, that country being at the time 
one of the tributaries of Media. Of this marriage 
was born Cyrus, the future master of the world. 1 Cyrus 
on coming to man's estate conceived tbe project of 
freeing Persia from the dominion of Media, and having 
persuaded the Persians to follow him in the enterprise, 
he threw off the Median yoke. The date of this event 
is supposed to have been about B.C. 559. A long and 
obstinate war followed, which ended in the ultimate 
triumph of Persia. During this struggle Lydia on the 
west, and Babylon on the south-west, although directly 
interested, maintained a policy of non-intervention, 
and allowed the Median power to fall into the hands 
of Cyrus, a man destined to conquer them both. 

1 It must be remembered that the descent of Cyrus from 
Astyages rests on very doubtful authority. The very name of 
Astyages has a mythical aspect, as it is merely the Greek form 
of the Zend Aj-dahak, "the biting snake" of night and dark- 
ness, the Ahi of the Hindu Veda, and the Zohak of Firdusi. 
S. 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 173 

After uniting Media and Persia, Cyrus proceeded to 
extend his power in every direction, subduing nation 
after nation to his yoke. In the course of these wars 
he came in contact with the Lydians, then ruled by 
Croesus. Croesus, who in a smaller way had been 
extending his dominions, feared he would be attacked, 
and sent to make an alliance with Babylonia, Egypt, 
and Sparta. Before these allies could assist him he 
was assaulted by Cyrus, who, after an indecisive battle, 
followed Croesus to his capital, Sardis, and besieged 
and captured the city ; thus putting an end to the 
Lydian power. 

During this contest Babylonia and Egypt remained 
inactive, and nothing was done to check the power 
of Persia, while Cyrus overran and conquered all Asia 
Minor. 

After his preparations were complete, Cyrus pro- 
claimed war against Nabonidus, king of Babylon. The 
Chaldeans, after their long peace, were unfitted for war, 
and Nabonidus appears to have been destitute of mili- 
tary skill. In a single battle Cyrus defeated the Baby- 
lonian army, and at once invested Babylon, while 
Nabonidus sought refuge in the neighbouring city 
of Borsippa. At this time we gather from the book 
of Daniel that the government of the city of Babylon 



174 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

was in the hands of Belshazzar, who is mentioned in 
an inscription of the period along with his father 
Nabonidus. 

Babylon was strongly fortified, and its people were 
trusting in their defences and holding high festival, 
when the Persians, who had made a canal above the 
city, and diverted part of the waters of the river, forded 
the Euphrates in the night, and entered the city by 
the river gates, which has been left unguarded during 
the festival. Belshazzar, son of Nabonidus, was 
slain in the attack, and the city fell into the hands of 
Cyrus, B.C. 539. 

The book of Daniel here states that Darius, son 
of Ahasuerus, took the kingdom, while ancient authors 
generally represent Cyrus as sole leader of the con- 
quest. Much discussion has arisen as to the person- 
ality of this Darius ; some suppose him to be Astyages, 
the grandfather of Cyrus ; others make him the same 
as Cyaxares, son of Astyages ; while a third section 
consider him to be a Median prince, otherwise un- 
known to history. One inquirer, Mr. Bosanquet, 
adheres to the unlikely theory that he is the same as 
Darius Hystaspes. 1 

The existence of Cyaxares, the son of Astyages, is more 
than doubtful, as it depends on Xenophon'.s romance of the Cyro- 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 175 

The inscriptions have as yet afforded no information 
on this point, but we may be certain that the rule of 
this Darius was short, and Ptolemy's Canon, our best 
chronological authority, places the first year of Cyrus 
B.C 538. 

Cyrus, after the conquest of Babylon, administered 
the government with care and attention to the laws 
and religion of the country. The Persians were 
Monotheists, and in principle opposed to the degrad- 
ing religions of Western Asia ; but in the time of 
Cyrus they adopted the rule of governing the subject 
countries in accordance with their native traditions. 
Thus we find Cyrus, who by religion believed in one 
God only, and raised no images for his worship, re- 
pairing in Babylonia the temples of Saggal at Babylon, 
Sidda at Borsippa, and Parra at Larsa, and preserving 
the Babylonian worship in these temples. 

The same desire to conciliate the nations under his 
sway led Cyrus to permit the Jews to return to their 
own country, and to rebuild the temple which 

pasdia. The Hebrew Ahasuerus represents the Greek Xerxes. 
The dated tablets recently procured from Babylon record only 
the reigns of Nebuchadnezzar and his successors down to Na- 
bonidus and Merodach-sarra-utsur, and then pass on to Cyrus 
and Cambyses. S. 



176 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed. Cyrus died B.C. 
530, leaving his crown to his son Cambyses, under 
whom there was little change in the condition of 
Babylonia. The people, however, were dissatisfied 
with the foreign dominion, and secretly prepared to 
revolt against Persia, only waiting for an opportunity 
to throw off the yoke of their conquerors. 

An opportunity soon occurred : Cambyses was absent 
in Egypt (which he conquered B.C. 527) during the 
latter part of his reign, and some dissatisfaction arose 
in Media and Persia in consequence. The dissatis- 
faction among the Medes was increased by the feeling 
that whereas Media had been the chief state, it was 
now subject to Persia, which had once been tributary 
to it. 

Cambyses had secretly murdered his younger 
brother Bardes, or Smerdis, and this fact appears to 
have been unknown among the people. A Median, 
one of the Magi, named Gumatu or Gomates, taking 
advantage of the disaffection during the absence of 
Cambyses, personated the dead prince Smerdis, 
and declaring himself son of Cyrus, rose in rebellion 
B.C. 522, and Media and Persia went over to him. 
Cambyses, on hearing of the revolt, left Egypt in haste 
to meet the pretender, but killed himself (perhaps by 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 177 

accident) in Syria while on the road to Persia. Soon 
aftenvards the Magian usurper was killed by Darius, 
son of Hystaspes (" Ancient Hist from the Monu- 
ments : Persia," pp. 29, 30, S.P.CK.), and Darius 
mounted the throne of Persia. 

During these troubles the Babylonians were pre- 
paring to revolt, and a man arose among them named 
Nadintu-Bel, son of Aniri, who declared himself to be 
Nebuchadnezzar, son of Nabonidus, the late Baby- 
lonian sovereign. 

Under this man the Babylonians revolted on the 
accession of Darius, B.C. 522, and at the same time 
Susiana threw off the yoke of Persia. Darius, after 
sending a deputy, who conquered the Susians, pro- 
ceeded himself against Babylon. On arriving at the 
Tigris, the Persian monarch found the Babylonians 
had command of the river, and opposed his crossing ; 
they had removed the ferry-boats, and posted their 
forces opposite the road, but Darius passed his troops 
over the river, and defeated the Babylonian army ; 
after which he marched towards Babylon, and reached 
the Euphrates at the town of Zazan, near Babylon, 
where the pretended Nebuchadnezzar again offered 
battle. In the second engagement the Persians were 
again triumphant, the Babylonians being routed, and 



178 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

part of their forces driven into the river. Nadintu- 
Bel fled with a few of his soldiers, and took refuge in 
Babylon, where he was followed and captured by 
Darius, who executed him for his rebellion about 
B.C. 521. 

For some years after this Babylon remained subject 
to Persia, but about B.C. 515 a man named Arahu, 
son of Handita, arose at a town named Duban, and, 
like Nadintu-Bel, personated Nebuchadnezzar, son of 
Nabonidus. The people of Babylon again revolted, 
and making this man king, prepared to resist Darius. 
The Persian monarch sent a general, who advanced to 
Babylon, and besieged Arahu there. How long the 
siege lasted we are not told, but the Persians cap- 
tured the city, and taking Arahu prisoner, crucified him. 

With the crushing of the second revolt against 
Persia ends the monumental history of Babylonia ; its 
history after this is only the history of a province of 
the successive empires of the East. It is true that 
the Babylonian religion survived, and the cuneiform 
writing continued to be used for some centuries ; but 
these also in time perished, and at the time of the 
Christian era everything but the Babylonian super- 
stitions and astrology had passed away. 

After the Persian conquest Babylon remained one 



HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 



I 79 



of the capitals of the empire, and it retained this posi- 
tion until the rise of the city of Seleucia, after which 
Babylon gradually decayed, until its palaces became 
mounds of rubbish, in which it is impossible to recog- 
nize the outlines and features of the original buildings. 
The fall of Babylon was brought about through the 
vice and corruption of the religion and morals of the 
country. The numerous deities, the slavish supersti- 
tions, the obscene rites of the goddesses, the debasing 
ignorance of the bulk of the people, and the indolence 
begotten of triumph and pillage, combined with a gene- 
ral moral and mental decay, were more disastrous to 
the country than the arms of the Persian conquerors. 




N 2 



EXPLANATION OF BABYLONIAN PROPER 

NAMES. 

[Added by the Editor.] 

THE derivation of Babylonian proper names has to be sought, in 
four different languages. The oldest names belong to the 
agglutinative Accadian, the later to the inflectional Semitic. 
Besides these, there are other proper names, the explanation of 
which is to be found in the allied dialects of Elam and the Cassi 
(Kossaeans), which belong to the same family of speech as the 
Accadian. 

ACCADIAN NAMES. 

Ubara-Tutu, The glow of the setting sun. 

Merodach, The brilliance of the sun. 

Jfea, The god of the house. 

Dav-kina, The mistress of the earth. 

Na (or Anu), The sky. 

Nana, Lady. 

Dumuzi ( Tammuz), The offspring, or only son. 

Sidtiri, The eye of youth. 

Lig-Bagas, A lion (is) the goddess Bagas. 

Dungi, The powerful. 

Ri-Agu (or Eri-Aku, or Rim-Agu}, The servant of the moon- 

god. 

Agu-kak-rimi, The moon-god (is) the maker of our light. 
Sipar (Sippara), The shrine of the sun. 
Accad (Acada), The highlands. 
Ur (or Muru, or Eri), The city. 
Erech (Urttkf), The city of the land. 
E-Stiggal, House of the high head. 
Silim-kalama, Couch of the world. 

ELAMITE NAMES. 

Kudur-Mabuk, Servant of Mabuk. 
Kudttr-Nanhundi, Servant of Nankhunta. 
Kudur-Lagamar (Chedorlaomer), Servant of Lagamar. 
Te-umman, Worshipper of Umman. 



EXPLANATION OF PROPER NAMES. l8l 

CASSITE NAMES. 

Khammuragas, Khammu (is) a begetter. 
Kara-indas, Servant of Indas. 
Biirna-buriyas, A law (is) Buryas. 
A T azi-bugas, A prince (is) Bugas (Bagas). 
Meli-sipak, The man of Sipak. 
Gan-duniyas, The enclosure of Duniyas. 

SEMITIC NAMES. 

Buzur-sadi-rabi, The defence (?) of the great mountain. 

Uea-bani, Hea (is) my creator. 

Ismi-Dagan, Dagon has heard. 

Naram-Sin, The chosen of the moon-god. 

Assur-yubalidh, Assur gave life. 

Muballidhat-Seruya, The quickened of Seruya. 

Bd-nirari, Bel (is) my help. 

Shalmaneser ('Sallimanu-esar), Shalman guides straight. 

Merodach-baladan (Maruduk-bal-iddina), Merodach gave a son. 

Zamama-zakir-idina, Zamama gave a memorial. 

Nebuchadrezzar (Nabu-kudura-ittsur), Nebo, defend [or has 

created] the crown, or landmark. 
Assur-ris-ilim, Assur, the head of the gods. 
Tiglath-pileser ( Tugitlti-fal-esar), The servant of (the god) the 

son of Bit-Esar. 

Assur-bel-kala, Assur, the lord of all. 

Maruditk-sapik-tsirrat, Merodach, the heaper up of dominion. 
Hea-mukin-ziri, Hea, establisher of a seed. 
Maritdiik-nadin-akhi, Merodach, the giver of brethren. 
Samsu-tluna, The sun-god (is) our god. 
Nabu-zakir-iscun, Nabo established the memorial. 
Assur-natsir-pal, Assur, the protector of the son. 
Miisallimu-Maniduk, Merodach (is) a completer. 
Maruduk-baladhsn-ikbi, Merodach announced his life. 
Nabu-yusabsi, Nebo caused to exist. 
A'in-ziru, Establish a seed. 

Sennacherib (Sin-akhi-erba), The moon-god increased brothers. 
Bi'l-ibni, Bel created. 

Assur-nadin-sum(i), Assur, the giver of a name. 
Nabu-zir-napisti-esir, Nebo guides straight the seed of life. 
Esarhaddon (Assur-akhi-iddina), Assur gave brothers. 
Bel-basa,, Bel exists. 
Assur-dayan, Assur(is) judge. 
Assur-bani-pal, Assur, create a son. 



1 82 EXPLANATION OF PROPER NAMES. 

Assur-dur-tttsur, Assur, defend the fortress. 

Sin-tabni-utsur, Sin, defend the offspring. 

Mannu-ki-babili, What (is) like Babylon ? 

ffea-mubasa, Hea (is) he that makes exist. 

Nabopolassar (Nabu-pal-ittsur), Nebo, protect (or has created) 
the son. 

Evil-Merodach (Amil-Maniduk), The man of Merodach. 

Nergal-Sarra-utsur, Nergal, protect (or has created) the king. 

Ulbar-surki-iddina, The god of Bit-Ulbar gave presents. 

Nabonidtts (Nabu-nahid), Nebo is glorious. (The Accadian 
equivalent of nahid is imttik.) 

Nadintu-Bel, The gift of Bel. 

Bel (Bilu), Lord. 

Nabo (Nabiu, or Nabu),T\ie. prophet. 

Tasmit, The hearer. 

Saru, The wind. 

Bab-salimiti, Gate of peace. 

Babylon (Bab-ili), Gate of God. 

Elam (Elamu), The Highlands (the Semitic rendering of the 
native name Khabarti, or Khubur ; Numma in Acca- 
dian). 

Me- Turnat, The waters of the Tornadotus. 

Kar-Assur, Fort of Assur. 

Imgur-Bel, The beloved (?) of Bel. 

Nimit-Bel (or rather Nemid-Bel), The foundation of Bel. 




INDEX, 



ACCAD, or AKKAD, a district originally named from its in- 
habitants, the Accadai, " Highlanders ; " also read Agane, 
n. p. 61 ; first four cities, Babel, Erech, Akkad, and 
Calneh, p. 61 ; the country of classical cuneiform litera- 
ture, from which all the great Assyrian works were copied, 

75- 

Accadian language and literature, 18; libraries at Agane, Senkereh, 
Ur, Erech, and Cuthah, 19; charms, ormagic formulae, divina- 
tion and omens, dread of the powers of evil, hymn to the 
seven baleful spirits, 20-22 ; hymns to the gods compiled 
B.C. 2,000, compared with the Rig- Veda, 23, 24; hymns 
to Merodach and Samas, 24, 25 ; penitential psalm, 26, 27 ; 
prayer, 27 ; mythological poems founded on astronomy, 29 ; 
hymns translated into Assyrian, 29 ; laws relating to 
slaves, legal precedents and decisions, 30, 31 ; respect for 
women, 30; language agglutinative, 35, n. 

Adrahasis, or Hasisadra compared with Noah, 37. 

Agu-kak-rimi restored the temple of Bel at Babylon, and 
ransomed the images of Merodach and Zirat-banit from the 
land of Hani, 77. 

Ashdod besieged by the Egyptians, who also wrested Car- 
chemish from the Assyrians, 149, 151. 

Amraphel, or Amarpul, 92. 

Amil-Maruduk, the Biblical Evil-Merodach, a mild and peaceful 
ruler ; released Jehoiachin, but detained him in honourable 
captivity; murdered by his brother-in-law, 167, 168. 

Antiquity and extent of Babylonian civilization, 14, 32. 

Anu, the god of heaven ; Anatu, his consort, 57. 

Arahu, a Babylonian pretender, crucified by Darius, 178. 

Arioch, Eri-aku, or Rim-agu, son of Kudur-mabug, 93, n. 

Arts and sciences cultivated by the Babylonians, 15. 

Astronomy derived from Chaldaea, 15. 

Assur-dayan sent expeditions against Ituha and Gananati, 109. 

Assur-nazir-pal defeated the Shuites and Babylonians, and sub- 
dued the region of the Khabur, 101, 102. 

Assur-ubalid's daughter married to the king of Babylonia, 85. 



184 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

Athara, the city where the chiefs of Pekod and Hindaru sub- 
mitted and paid tribute to Sargon, 119. 

BABEL, "gate of God," the Semitic rendering of Ca-Dimirra, 
possibly in reference to the building of the Tower, 53, n. 

Bab-salimiti, a city on the Persian Gulf, 13, 14, 131. 

Babylon, city of, built in very early times, 75 ; asserted by the 
Babylonians to have been a great city before the Deluge, 
53 ; a place of little importance till it became the capital, 
and held this position more than 1,200 years, 75 ; first 
made sole capital by Khammuragas, who greatly enriched 
it, and added splendour to its worship of Merodach or Bel, 
8 1, 82; captured by Tiglath-pileser, 97 ; by Shalmaneser, 
104; by Sargon, 121, 122; by Sennacherib, 126; by the 
Elamites and Chaldaeans, 131 ; again by Sennacherib, given 
up to indiscriminate plunder, completely destroyed, and the 
great canal filled up with the ruins, 135, 136; rebuilt by 
Esar-haddon, 139 ; captured by Assur-bani-pal, when 
Saul-mugina set fire to his own palace and perished in the 
flames, 147; the city rose into greater importance under 
Nabopolassar, and his son, Nebuchadnezzar, became the 
centre of the political world, 153 ; the latter restored its 
walls, temples, and palaces on a scale of great magnificence 
whilst engaged in wars with the adjoining countries, 156- 
165 ; boast, "Is not this great Babylon," &c., 165 ; its 
wealth and luxury, 166, 167; the Persian conquest under 
Cyrus, 173, 174 ; the city captured by Darius, who put the 
pretender, Nadintu-Bel, to death, and again, a few years 
afterwards, when Arahu, who had personated a son of 
Nabonidus, was taken prisoner and crucified, 177-178; 
causes of its fall, 181. 

Babylonia, boundaries of, varied at different periods, 34 ; 
thought to have been first peopled by Turanians, who were 
conquered and dispossessed by Semites, 34, 35 ; history of 
the country translated by Berosus from its own records 
into Greek in the third century, B.C., now lost except a 
few fragments, 35. 

Babylonian kings, lists of, &c., 8-12. 

Babylonian libraries, 19 ; mathematical works, tables of squares 
and cubes now in British Museum from Senkereh, 19 ; 
literature, included beast-fables, contract tablets, deeds of 
sale, geographical lists, chronological tables, historical 
documents, copies of correspondence, catalogues of animals, 
trees, stones, &c., &<x, 31, 32. 

Babylonian proper names : Accadian, Elamite, Cassite, and 
Semitic, 180-2. 

Babylonian religion, a mixture of graceful myths and the 
worship of stocks and stones, 15, 16. 



INDEX. 185 

Bel and Nebo, temples of, plundered by the Elamites, 94 ; by 
Suzub, 134. 

Bel-Merodach, 164, n. 

Bel-nirari routed the Kassu, slew Nazi-bugas, and placed a son 
of Burna-buriyas on the Babylonian throne, 86. 

Bel-shazzar slain on the taking of Babylon by Cyrus during a 
high religious festival, 173, 174. 

Bel-zakir-iskun defeated by the Assyrian general, Nabu-pal- 
uzur, who was rewarded with the crown of Babylonia on 
his subjugation of the country, 149. 

Birs Nimnkl, view of, 76. 

Borsippa, a city, supposed to be the site of the Tower of Con- 
fusion ; the refuge of Nabonidus on his defeat by Cyrus, 173. 

Burna-buriyas confirmed a previous treaty respecting the fron- 
tiers of Babylonia and Assyria, 85. 

CALAH, revolt at, ended in the elevation of Tiglath-pileser, 1 10. 

Cambyses murdered his brother Smerdis, conquered Egypt, but 
was harassed in the latter part of his reign by revolts, and 
accidentally killed whilst hastening to Persia to put down 
Gomates, 176, 177. 

Chaldrean accounts of creation and fall of man, 51, 52 ; of Babel, 

Sippara, Larancha and Surippak before the Deluge, 53. 

Chaldees, origin of, unknown ; some of the early dynasties 
styled Chaldaean ; called Caldai on the monuments, and 
first obtained possession of Babylon, B.C. 722, under 
Merodach-baladan, 104, 105. 

Chedorlaomer and his confederates ravaged and plundered 
Palestine, and retired with great booty ; surprised in a 
night attack near Damascus, 92, 93. 

Cities of Babylonia, 16, 18. 

Comparison of the Chaldtean account of the Deluge with that in 
the Bible, 48, 51. 

Creation, legend from, Cuthah, 19. 

Cuneiform writing invented by Turanians, 16; characters at 
first hieroglyphics, afterwards represented mere sounds, 17. 

Cylindrical seals, 32. 

Cyrus threw off the Median yoke, overran and annexed various 
countries ; took Sardis, and put an end to the Lydian 
kingdom ; overthrew the Babylonians in a single battle ; 
seized the capital during a religious festival ; permitted 
the Jews to return and rebuild Jerusalem, and allowed 
the conquered Babylonians to retain their own worship, 
172-6. 

DAKKURI, a Chaldsean tribe, 139-145. 

Darius, son of Hystaspes, slew the impostor Gomates, and 
mounted the Persian throne ; vigorously repressed the 
revolts in Elam and Babylonia, putting to death Nadintu- 



1 86 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

Bel, the pretended son of Nabonidus ; his general captured 
Arahu, another pretender, and crucified him, 1 77> I 7& 

Destruction of Babylon by Sennacherib, 136. 

Division of Assyria on the fall of Nineveh, 152-155. 

Dungi, a great builder of temples, 72. 

Dur or Diru, 18, 108, 116. 

Duran or Duban, 18, 132. 

Dur-athara taken by Sargon ; rebuilt, and its name changed to 
Dur-Nabu, 119. 

Dur-kuri-galzu (Akkerkuf), built by Kur-galzu, 87 ; seized by 
Tiglath-pileser, 96, 97. 

Dur-papsakul captured by Sargon, 106, 107. 

Dur-sar, an Elamite fortress, taken from Samsi-Vul, 122. 

Dur-yakin, the first seat of Merodach- baladan's government, 
118, 123, 124. 

EDEN identified with Gan-duniyas, 52, 53. 

Elam, peopled by warlike Turanians, often ruled by several petty 
princes; chief cities, Shushan, Madaktu, and Hidalu, 91. 

Eleventh deluge, Tablet throws light on Genesis account, 38. 

Esar-haddon rebuilt Babylon, restored the images of the gods, 
139 ; checked the Dakkuri, burnt their king Samas-ibni, 
and received Bel-basa's submission ; released Manasseh, 
&c., 140-2. 

Evil-Merodach. (See AMIL-MARUDUK.) 

Etanna, the mythical founder of Babel, Tammuz, and Ner, 62. 

FALL of Assyria, the era of a purer faith, 153. 

Fast of loo days at Nineveh, 151, n. 

Frontiers of Assyria definitely settled by treaty, 102, 103. 

GAN-DUNI, or KAR-DUNIAS identified with Eden, by Sir H. C. 
Rawlinson, 52, 53. 

HAMMURABI, or KHAMMURAGAS, the Cassite conqueror of 
Babylonia, and founder of a new dynasty ; made, Babylon 
sole capital, and added splendour to the worship of Mero- 
dach or Bel ; was a builder of temples, palaces, and 
founded several cities, besides excavating the canal named 
in his honour, Hammu-rabinuhus-nisi, 81-3. 

Harbi-Sipak, or Murgas-Sipak, 84. 

Harris-kalama, or Kharsak-kalama, 76, 126. 

Hea-bani, the astrologer, and friend of Izdubar, 58. 

Hea-mubasa, a Chaldsean chief, 145. 

Hea-mukin-ziru, a Chaldsean usurper, 98. 

ILUL^EUS, or YUG/EUS, king of Babylon, 114. 

Inda-bigas, king of Elam, 147, 148. 

Iriba-Maruduk, name of a king, only found on a weight, 100. 

Ishtar, the celebrated queen of Erech, 55 ; offers to marry 
Izdubar, and her revenge on his refusal, 55-7. 

Ishtar, the goddess, the Biblical Ashtoreth, 55, n. 



INDEX. 187 

Ismi-dagan, and Libit-Ishtar, kings of Karrak, 73. 

Izdubar, supposed to be Nimrod, made Erech his capital ; 
friendship with Hea-bani, exploits and mythical adventures, 
54-7 ; journey to Hasisadra, who relates to him the story 
of the Flood, 58, 59. 

KARA-HARDAS, or KARA-MURDAS, son of a daughter of Assur- 
ubalid, 85, 86. 

Kara-indas, titles assumed by him, and his treaty with Assur- 
bel-nisi-su, 84, 85. 

Kara-samas, a city on the Tigris, founded by Hammurabi, 82. 

Karrak, fall of, used as an era, 74. 

Kassu, tribe of, first mentioned in an inscription of Aga-kak- 
rimi, murdered the king of Babylon, and set up Nazi-bugas, 
86. 

Kassu-nadin-ahi, the successor of Hea-mukin-ziru, 98. 

Kisu (Hymer), a city where Hammu-rabi restored the temple of 
Zamama, and built a famous tower, 82. 

Kudur-lagamar (see CHEDORLAOMER), 92. 

Kudur-nanhundi invaded Babylonia, and carried away the image 
of Nana, 91, 92. 

Kuri-galzu restored several Chaldsean temples, and founded a 
strong city near Baghdad, 87. 

LARSA (Senkereh) became the capital of Riagu's dominions after 
the fall of Karrak, 71, 74. 

MANNU-KA-BILI, a chief of the Dakkuri, 145. 

Maruduk-baladsu-iqbi vanquished by Samsi-Vul, who captureed 
his wholecamp, the royal chariots, pavilion, and couch, 105-7. 

Maruduk-zakir-izkur, assisted by the Assyrians, quelled a re- 
bellion headed by his own brother, who was slain after 
his flight to Halman, 103, 104. 

Merodach-baladan I. , the successor of Mili-Sipak, routed by Vul- 
nirari, who ravaged Upper Babylonia, and wrested from 
him the region of the Khabur, 87. 

Merodach-baladan II. rebuilt the temple of Erech, 100. 

Merodach-baladan, the contemporary of Sargon and Senna- 
cherib, struggled bravely for nearly thirty years to maintain 
the independence of Babylonia ; formed alliances with the 
Elamites, and sent an embassy to Hezekiah ; was twice 
defeated and captured, and sent prisoner to Nineveh, but 
again escaped ; murdered Hagisa or Akises, and mounted 
the Babylonian throne, 115-125 ; this defection brought 
Sennacherib against him, who, after the disastrous battle at 
Kisu, entered Babylon in triumph, plundered the palace, 
and destroyed nearly all the neighbouring cities and villages, 
and appointed Bel-ibni as governor ; left a force to watch 
for Merodach-baladan, and returned to Assyria, 126, 127 ; 
in despair the fugitive king collected his adherents and the 



1 88 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

images of his gods, sailed down the Persian Gulf, and 
founded a Chaldaean colony in Elam, where he died, 126. 

Merodach-nadin-ahi worsted Tugulti-pal-esar, and carried away 
the images of Vul and Sala from Hekali, but was himself 
completely overthrown the next year, when the Assyrians 
seized Babylon, and nearly all the important cities, 96, 97. 

Merodach-sapit-zirrat made peace with Assur-bel-kala, 97. 

Merodach's war with Tiamat compared with that of Michael and 
the great dragon, 52, 53, n. 

Media, rise of, under Cyaxares, 149. 

Medo-Persians excelled the older empires in government and 
military discipline, 153. 

Mili-Sipak, son of Kuri-galzu, father of Merodach-baladan I., 87. 

NABU-IMTUK, or NABU-NAHID, ascended the throne after the 
assassination of Laborosoarchod, 170 ; was a great builder, 
and in the latter part of his reign allowed his son Bel-shazzar 
(Bel-sar-uzur) to share with him the regal dignity, 171 ; fled 
after his defeat, by Cyrus, to Borsippa, leaving his son to 
defend Babylon (see CYRUS), 172-4. 

Nabu-kudur-uzur (Nebuchadnezzar), the son of Nabu-pal-uzur r 
made Babylonia the mistress of the surrounding countries, 
153-5 ; surprised and routed the Egyptians at Carchemish, 
and pushed his way, almost unopposed, to the frontiers of 
Egypt, 1 56 ; received the submission of Jehoiakim, and a 
few years later deposed Jehoiachin, and set up his uncle, 
Zedekiah, in his stead, as king of Judah, 157 ; crashed the 
power of Elam, and returned to Syria, fixed his head- 
quarters at Riblah, besieged Tyre, and sent his general, 
Nebuzaradan against Jerusalem, who captured the king 
whilst attempting to escape, plundered the city, burnt and 
razed it to the ground, besides carrying away most of the 
inhabitants as prisoners, 156-159; left Gedaliah as governor, 
who was murdered by some disaffected Jews, and the coun- 
try was again ravaged and depopulated as a punishment, 
161 ; he then went forward, overran and plundered Egypt, 
deposed Hophra, and set up Ahmes as a vassal king, 162 ; 
his conquests, 162, 163 : more famous as a builder than a 
conqueror, rebuilt and adorned all the great temples, but 
lavished his wealth most on Babylon, making it the grandest 
city in the world, 163-6 ; the chief and lesser divinities 
shared alike his devotion and gifts, 167. 

Nabu-pal-idina joined the S.huites against the Assyrians, but 
sustained a terrible reverse (see ASSUR-NAZIR-PAL), 101. 

Xabu-pal-uzur rapidly improved the defences of Babylonia, and 
began the career of conquest so ably carried on by his 
illustrious son, Nebuchadnezzar, 153-6. 

Nabu-zakir-iskun was unable to repel the Assyrian invaders, who 



INDEX. !8 9 

wrested from him several cities on the Tigris, including 
Baghdad, or rather Khudadu, 100, 101. 

Nabu-zir-napisti-esir seized his father's original dominions, and 
tried to recover all Babylonia, but was beaten by the 
Assyrians, and'fled to Elam, where he was murdered, 138. 

Nadintu-Bel, the pretended son of Nebuchadnezzar, put to 
death by Darius, 177, 178. 

Nahid-Maruduk, on submitting to Esar-haddon, appointed 
governor of his brother's forfeited territory, 139. 

Naram-Sin, completed Bit-Ulbar, 80. 

Nazi-bugas, a usurper, defeated and slain by Bel-nirari, who 
placed a son of Burna-buriyas on the throne, 86. 

Nazi-munidas, beaten by the Assyrians at Kar-istar-agarsal, 87, 
88. 

Nebuchadnezzar. (See NABU-KUDUR-UZUR.) 

iN'ergal-sharezer assumed the crown after the murder of Evil- 
Merodach ; was present at the taking of Jerusalem ; built a 
new palace, and restored an old structure, 1 68, 169. 

Ningal-idina, the Assyrian governor of Ur, besieged by Nabu- 
zir-napisti-esir, 138. 

Nipur (Niffer), the parent city of Ur, devoted to the worship of 
Bel, Belat, and Ninip, 63, 64 ; no records of its primeval 
history ; walls restored by Vul-pal-idina, ico. 

CANNES, a fabulous being, said to have taught the arts of 
civilized life to the Babylonians, 36. 

PORUS, or PUL, thought to be Tiglath-pileser, 114. 

REVOLT against Assur-bani-pal by Chaldaea, Arabia, Syria, Lydia, 
Palestine, Egypt, and Elam, 142-5 ; the confederate armies 
expelled the Assyrian garrisons from Babylonia, and fortified 
Sippara, Babylon, Borsippa, and Cutha, as military centres, 
which were successively taken by the Assyrians, 145, 146. 

Rim-agu, or Ri-agu, during a peace of thirty years, largely 
developed the internal resources and wealth of his country, 
till it was attacked and conquered by Hammurabi, 74. 

SAGA-SALTIYAS restored the temples at the two Sipparas, 84. 

Sammuramit, wife of Vul-nirari, 108, 109. 

Samsi-Vul utterly routed the Babylonians and their mercenaries 
at Ahadaba, seized many of the important towns, and burnt 
hundreds of villages (see Merodach-baladsu-iqbi), 105-7 5 
renewed the war soon after, took Dur, and celebrated a 
festival to its great god, 107. 

Samsu-iluna, the successor of Hammurabi, excavated a large 
canal named after himself, repaired Dur-Sargina, and made 
images overlaid with gold for the temples of Saggal, Parra, 
and Larsa, 83. 

Saparda, the biblical Sepharad, 151, n. 

Sargon, the Babylonian Moses, his birth, exposure and adoption, 



1 90 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

by Akki, conquered the Elamites, Syrians, and Kazalla, 78, 
79 ; besieged in his own capital, successful sally and rout 
of the rebels, ravaged Subarti with fire and sword, 79, 80 ; 
a great builder of temples and palaces, and founder of the 
city Dur-Sargina, left nearly all the surrounding countries 
tributary to his successor, 80. 

Sargon II., soon after his accession crushed the revolt in Pales- 
tine, and then marched against Merodach-baladan and his 
Elamite allies, drove the latter into their own territory, and 
wasted a part of Babylonia, 116, 117 ; engaged in wars the 
next ten years with Syria, Media, and Armenia, 116, 117 ; 
Merodach-baladan ruled well, and prepared for the renewal 
of hostilities, and fortified Dur-athara to stop Sargon's ad- 
vance ; but the city was captured with immense booty and 
prisoners ; fourteen of the principal cities by the river Ukni 
were taken and plundered, and two Elamite forts, and Sutur- 
nanhundi compelled to retreat with his army to his moun- 
tain territories, 1 18-20 ; next advanced towards Babylon, and 
Merodach-bala<lan retreated to Iqbi-Bel, 121 ; he entered 
Babylon in triumph, and offered costly sacrifices to the gods, 
121, 122 ; Merodach-baladan next retired with all his forces 
to Dur-yakin, where he was defeated with great slaughter, 
and all his treasures captured ; he then submitted to Sargon, 
and was carried into captivity with his wife and children, 
123 ; the conqueror secured the friendship of the priesthood 
by restoring the rites and offerings of the various gods, and 
reigned at Babylon five years, where he received two 
embassies from distant countries, 123, 124. 

Sennacherib, on ascending the throne, resided at Nineveh, and 
appointed his brother governor of Babylon, but Merodach- 
baladan escaped from captivity, murdered him, and resumed 
the Babylonian crown, 125 ; burning with the desire of 
revenge Sennacherib hastened to Kisu, utterly routed the 
Babylonians, and Merodach-baladan fled for safety to the 
marshes, 125, 126 ; Babylon and the neighbouring cities 
were plundered, and hundreds of villages destroyed, 126; 
Bel-ibni, a court favourite, was placed on the throne, the 
Nomad tribes were severely punished, and 208,000 prisoners, 
with their cattle, carried away to Assyria ; a force was also 
left to watch for Merodach-baladan, who collected his 
adherents and abandoned his country ; founded a Chaldaean 
colony in Elam, 127, 128; Suzub next defied Sennacherib's 
power, but was defeated, and fled for safety to the swamps; 
Bel-ibni deposed, and Assur-nadin-mu, set up as king in 
his stead, 128; a powerful expedition sent by sea against 
the new colony, landed, defeated them and their allies, and 
forced large numbers with the cattle into the ships, and 



INDEX. 



191 



conveyed them to Bab-salimiti, 128-31 ; Babylon captured 
in the interim by the Chaldaeans and Elamites, and Suzub 
again proclaimed king, but defeated by the Assyrian rein- 
forcements and taken captive, sent bound to Nineveh ; a 
large army ravaged Elam with fire and sword, and destroyed 
most of the large cities ; Suzub escaped from confinement, 
revolted, :md at first sought safety in the marshes, and after- 
wards in Elam, where he raised a considerable army, re- 
turned to Babylon, mounted the throne, and expelled the 
Assyrians from the country, 131-3 ; the assistance of the 
Elamites was obtained by Suzub with the treasures of Bel, 
Nebo, and Nergal, sent as a present to Umman-minan, 134 ; 
Sennacherib eagerly met the rebels at Halule, where he 
gained a decisive victory, taking an incredible number of 
prisoners, and heaps of spoil, but retired on the approach 
of winter, 134, 135 ; the next year Babylon was stormed, 
given up to plunder, the images of the gods broken up, the 
city burnt, and levelled with the ground, and Suzub, with 
part of his family, captured, 135, 136. 

Shalmaneser III., sent three expeditions to Ituha, 109. 

Simti-silhak, father of Kudur-mabuk, 74. 

Sin-tabni-uzur, son of Ningal-idina, 145. 

Suzub, see latter part of Sennacherib's wars, &c., 128-36. 

TAB LETS relating to the close of the Assyrian monarchy, 150, 1 5 1 , n . 

Tammaritu, an Elamite parricide, surrendered to Assur-bani- 
pal on a promise of pardon, 146, 147. 

feredon, a port on the Persian Gulf, 14. 

Tiglath-pileser subdued several Babylonian tribes, appointed 
military governors, built Kar-Assur, and peopled it with 
captives ; captured Nabu-usabsi, and impaled him in front of 
his capital, carrying off his wife, children, and gods, and a 
vast number of prisoners, in, 112 ; took and sent Zakhiru 
captive to Assyria, but was foiled in the siege of Sapiya, 
and ravaged the surrounding country, 112, 113 ; proclaimed 
king of Babylon, and instituted festivals to the great gods 
in the principal cities, 113, 114. 

Tower of Babel, notices of, 53, n. 

Tugulti-Ninip, son of Shalmaneser, annexed Babylonia, and 
took the titles of " King of Assyria," " Conqueror of Kar- 
duniyas," and " King of Sumir and Akkad," but the 
Babylonians regained their independence shortly after his 
death, 88, 89. 

ULBAR-SARKI-IDINA succeeded by his two brothers, 98, 99. 

Umman-Aldas, king of Elam, murdered by his brothers, Urtaki 
and Te-umman, for refusing to make war on Esar-haddon, 
when the former assumed the crown, but did not follow his 
own previous policy, 141. 



192 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. 

Umman-Aldas, an Elamite commander, killed Inda-bigas, and 
mounted the throne ; gave up the dead body of Nabu-bel- 
zikri and the head of his armour-bearer to Assur-bani-pal's 
envoys, 148. 

Umman-igas, bribed by Saul-mugina to join the confederacy 
against the Assyrians, sent his army to Babylon, when his 
son, Tammaritu, rebelled, defeated the royal troops, and 
sent his head as a present to Assur-bani-pal, and assumed 
the crown of Elam, 145, 146. 

Ur (Mugheir) succeeded Nipur as the capital of South Chaldrea, 
63, 64 ; outside the walls filled with graves of all ages ; 
probably the birth-place of Abraham ; devoted to the 
worship of the moon-god, 65 ; first ruler, perhaps, Lig- 
Bagas, 66, n. ; high state of its arts, learning, and civiliza- 
tion ; carving, cylindrical seals, inscriptions ; language 
generally Semitic, but Accadian still used ; religion highly 
poetic with respect to rank, descent, and local character of 
deities, 67, 68 ; the great gods Ann, Bel, and Hea, 68. 

Ur-hamsi cures Izdubar, 61. 

Urtaki, king of Elam, joined Bel-basa, and some petty chiefs in 
a plundering expedition into Babylonia, which alarmed 
Saul-mugina, 142, 143 ; the Elamites were pursued whilst 
retreating with the spoil, routed and driven across the fron- 
tiers by Assur-bani-pal, who soon afterwards conquered 
the country, and placed Umman-igas on the throne as a 
tributary, 143. 

VUL-NIRARI III., engaged several years in wars with Syria, 
Media, Dur, and Ituha, 108. 

Vul-pal-idina restored the walls of Nipur, and rebuilt the temple 
at Kisu, 100. 

Vul-zakir-uzur had some disputes with his Assyrian contem- 
poraries, 100. 

WINGED Monster slain by Izdubar and Heabani, 57. 

XISITHRUS, XISUTHRUS, BASIS-AURA, the Babylonian Noah, 
38, n. ; residence, 53. 

ZABU, the builder of the temples of Samas and Anunit at 
Sippara, 75. 

Zamama-zikir-idina unable to repress the raids of the Elamites 
and Assyrians, 94, 95. 



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